Practice
by Sonata Rapp
Summary: Mimi is pregnant and Roger prepares for fatherhood by babysitting Mark and Maureen's four kids. Angel's alive because I want her to be.
1. Chapter 1

Practice

So here's another story for you guys. I know I haven't yet finished No Other Road or RENT: The Real Story, but this was a burst of inspiration. Hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 1

"Roger we need to talk." Roger Davis looked up from his guitar as his wife of two years came into the room. He smiled, as he always did when she entered a room he was in, simply because he loved her.

"Sure baby. What do we need to talk about? Are you leaving me?" he joked. His wife Mimi Marquez Davis came over and sat next to him on the couch.

She playfully slapped him on the arm. "No you bum. Can't you be serious for once? This is really important."

Roger heard the fear in his wife's voice and stopped smiling. "What is it? Are you okay?" he asked panicking a little. Since both of them had AIDS, they had to be careful to take care of themselves. They had both had had near death experiences and when one of them said something was serious, then it was important.

"I'm fine Roger. It's just- well, I'm pregnant." Mimi said softly.

Roger's lovely green eyes widened. "Are you serious? I'm going to be a father?" he grinned. Then he had an afterthought. "Wait, I_ am _the father, aren't I?"

"Yes you idiot. Who else would it be?" Mimi said hitting him again. "Are you really sure you're okay with this?"

Roger pulled her into his lap and kissed her. "Of course I am. I'm married to the most beautiful woman in the world and we are about to have the best looking baby ever." He said with a smile.

"Um, I really doubt that." someone said loudly from the front door. "I mean come on; we all know _my_ children are the cutest."

Mimi and Roger didn't even have to look up to see who it was who was speaking. They only knew one person who was that loud and who had a key to their house that they hadn't given her. "Hello Maureen." they both said simultaneously.

Maureen smiled and came bouncing into the room. Then she plopped down on the couch beside them. "So you're pregnant Meems?" she asked.

Mimi nodded and Maureen gave her a hug. "That's so great! You'll make a wonderful mom." she said. Then her cell phone rang. The caller ID said it was Mark.

"Hey Baby!" she answered. "Yeah, I'm at the Davis' place. Mimi and Roger sweetie. Guess what? Mimi's pregnant! Okay I'll ask them, tell the kids hi for me. Love you." She hung up and turned to Mimi and Roger. "Can you believe he didn't know who the Davis' were at first? I guess it's still hard for him to wrap his mind around you being a family. Anyway, he says congrats to you Mimi, and he wants to know if you guys want to go out to dinner tonight."

Roger looked at Mimi who nodded. "Okay we can do dinner." he said to her. "Are you bringing the kids?"

Maureen shrugged. "Not sure. Victoria and Lea are okay, but Alex is teething and always being loud and fussy." she told them.

"What about Tony?" Mimi inquired. He was Maureen and Mark's oldest child and he was conceived before they were even married.

Maureen sighed. "I don't know. He is really starting to grow up. But since _someone_ decided to get him a guitar for his tenth birthday, we hardly ever see him because he's always locked in his room with it."

Roger grinned sheepishly. "Hey look on the bright side," he said. "Soon you can corrupt my children."

"And don't think I won't." Maureen told him laughing. "I've got to go you guys, I'll call when I find out what time we're having dinner." Then she got up and left and Mimi snuggled back into Roger's side.

"Babe, let's never have four kids, okay?" she said to him.

"You got it." he answered back with a chuckle.

Mark was sitting in the darkroom/film room he'd converted from an old walk in closet at his and Maureen's house. He was developing the pictures from Mimi and Roger's second wedding anniversary. He smiled when he came to a picture of all of them. Mimi and Roger with their arms around each other, him and Maureen holding hands, Collins and Angel looking silly, and Joanne and her new girlfriend Carmen the doctor. Then the kids were in front, all six of them. He and Maureen had four: Tony, Victoria, Lea, and Alex. Collins and Angel had adopted two once they had been legally committed: Roberto and Gabriella. Now Roger and Mimi were about to add their own kids to the bunch.

Just then, Mark was interrupted by the sound of knocking at the door.

"Yes?" he called, knowing it was one of his children.

"Daddy, Auntie Angel and Uncle Collins are here!" called one of his daughters.

"Thank you Vicky, I'll be out in a minute." he called back to her.

And indeed Angel and Collins were there with their two kids. Angel was cooing over one and a half year old Alex who Tony and Victoria were supposed to be watching.

"Uncle Collins!" six-year-old Lea shrieked as she jumped into his arms. "I missed you."

Collins laughed. "I missed you too Lea. Now where is that brother of yours?" he asked her.

Lea shrugged and said. "He's probably up in his room with his guitar even though he was supposed to be watching Alex."

"Well little Alex seems to be doing fine without him; it seems someone else has been taking care of him." Angel said as she came over to them. Lea jumped down from Collins and ran to her.

"It was me and Tori." she said using her nickname for her sister and giving Angel a kiss on the cheek. "Tony said he wanted to be alone for a while and he gave us each five dollars to watch him."

"I told that boy about doing that." Mark said as he joined them in the living room. "He gets more and more like his Uncle Roger everyday." He hugged Collins and kissed Angel on the cheek. Then he looked over at their kids who were watching television with Victoria. "Hey Berto, hey Gabby." he called to them. They looked up and waved. Then he turned back to Angel and Collins. "So did you two hear about Mimi yet?"

"Yes we did!" Angel exclaimed happily. "Now we can add more children to our bunch!"

Mark looked around and took in all the children in the house. "Do we really need anymore kids around here?" he asked. "I think we have enough as it is."

Roger and Mimi were meeting everyone at the restaurant at eight and they were running late. Mimi was scolding Roger as he drove.

"I told you we didn't have time Roger. But you just wouldn't listen, you just had to have it, now we're late." she was saying.

"Oh Mimi my love, we're always late." Roger said soothingly.

"And everybody always knows why!" Mimi fired back. But she couldn't help laughing as they pulled up outside of the restaurant. She had wanted to do it as much as Roger did and he knew that. They could never stay mad ay each other.

"So how do I look?" Roger asked his wife.

Mimi looked him over. As usual he looked delicious. "Well," she said you look okay but your curls are messy."

Roger shrugged. "They never stay neat so what's the point." Then he looked his wife up and down. "You, my dear," he told her, "look absolutely lovely. In fact I say we skip dinner, go back home and finish what we were doing earlier."

Mimi laughed. "Roger control yourself. That's how I ended up pregnant in the first place." Roger took her hand and led her inside the restaurant. They told the maitre d' they were with the Cohen party and went to take their seats. When they got to the table, they saw that the all the kids weren't there.

"So where are the littlest Cohens?" Roger asked as they sat down.

"Alex and Lea are with our neighbors. We decided it would be best to leave them at home." Mark answered.

"That reminds me Roger, I have an idea for you." Maureen said.

"What is it?" Roger asked warily. He knew about Maureen's ideas. They weren't always good ones.

"You know that Mark, Mimi, and I are going out of town to visit my mother in a week. Mark and I were thinking that you could get some practice with children by watching Tony, Tori, Lea and Alex while we're gone." Maureen told him.

"Why just me?" Roger wanted to know.

"Because, Mimi helped raise five brothers and sisters. She doesn't need to learn how to handle children. You on the other hand do need the practice." Mark chimed in.

"Okay I'll do it." Roger said.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

A week later Roger and Mimi were driving to Mark and Maureen's house. Mimi was going over a few last minute details with Roger.

"Now Roger you know all the numbers don't you? My cell, Mark's cell, and Maureen's cell?" she said.

"Yes Mimi."

"You know what to do in case of an emergency?"

"Yes Mimi."

"You know we'll be gone for three days and you'll be alone with four children for the first time in forever?"

"Mimi calm down; I've got it under control. You just worry about having a good time okay? I'll be fine." Roger said as they pulled into the driveway.

Mimi smiled apologetically. "I know sweetie. I just worry about you. You're like a big kid yourself sometimes." she said giving him a kiss.

Inside the house it was borderline chaotic. Suitcases were everywhere and the television was up loud. Maureen was running around trying to make sure she wasn't forgetting anything when the doorbell rang.

"Tony!" she called over the din from the T.V. "Tony," there was no answer. "Anthony Cohen go answer the door!" she yelled finally.

"Okay okay, you don't have to yell Mom!" Tony called back. He got up from the couch and went to get the door.

"Hey Uncle Roger." he said as Roger and Mimi came in when he opened the door. "Hello Aunt Mimi. I'll go see what's up with Mom and Dad." He turned around. "Yo Tori! Turn the T.V. down okay!"

Victoria didn't respond she just obeyed. "My goodness what are they watching in there?" Mimi asked.

"Inuyasha, last time I checked." Tony said back. "Mom, Aunt Mimi and Uncle Roger are here!" he called up the stairs. Maureen came running down.

"Hey you guys." she said. "Come on Mimi we'll go put the stuff in our van. Roger, Mark's in his darkroom. Could you please do something to hurry him along?"

"No problem." Roger said. "MARK!" he yelled loudly.

"Jeez Uncle Roger." Tony said rubbing his ears. "Give a person warning next time." But it had worked. Mark appeared at the doorway.

"What?" he asked, then seeing who it was, "Oh hey Rog. I was just fiddling with my camera."

Roger smiled. "I know. Your wife is going to kill you if you don't get your ass out there and put your stuff in the van. You know how she can get."

"Yeah okay." Mark said going to get his things. "Let me put this out there and I'll be back."

"You got it Marky." Roger said with a smile. He went into the living room and sat down next to Lea. "Hi Lea." he said to her.

"Hi Uncle Roger." she said back. "Are you really going to be in charge this weekend?"

"Yeah I guess so. You gonna help me out?" he asked her.

"Sure!" she said smiling at him. Just then, Mark and Maureen appeared in the doorway.

"Okay Cohen children, line up." Mark said.

Victoria turned off the television and the kids did as they were told.

"Now," Mark continued. "As you know, your mother and I will be gone from now until Monday night. Your Uncle Roger is in charge until then. If he's not around when you need him, ask Tony. He's thirteen now so he should know what's up. I know you just came home from school an hour ago so you should have homework, do it. And don't drive Uncle Roger crazy with your cuteness."

Then Maureen jumped in. "You know your Aunt Mimi is pregnant and soon Roger will be a father. So help him get to know how to handle kids. But like your father said, don't drive him crazy. And don't kill him. We'll see you all on Monday night." Roger gave Mark and Maureen hugs then kissed Mimi goodbye as the parents hugged their kids.

"Don't worry you guys. I'll have them in one piece when you get back." Roger said as he walked them to the door.

"It's not them we're worried about." Maureen said. Once they were gone, all the kids turned to look at Roger. He in turn looked at the kids. It was funny how much they resembled their parents. Thirteen year old Anthony, or Tony as he was called, had curly brown hair and blue eyes. Eleven-year-old Victoria, called Tori by everyone but her father who called her Vicky, had inherited Mark's blond hair and blue eyes. Lea, who was six, was also blond but she had her mother's brown eyes. Lastly was little one and half year old Alexander. He was the image of his mother with brown hair and brown eyes.

"So," Roger said slowly. "You guys can watch television or whatever if you want. Then we'll order a pizza and I'll attempt to help you with your homework." They all agreed that that was a good idea and Tori turned the television back on.

Roger watched cartoons with them for a while but then he fell asleep. Tony then went to play his guitar and Tori went and got her camera. She was just like her father, always filming every thing that happened.

"Close up on Uncle Roger." she narrated as she filmed. "He's sleeping right now, even though he's supposed to be watching us. However, I will not tell. Tony is upstairs playing his guitar like always. Oh and here he comes."

Tony was coming down the stairs. "Hey Tori." he said to the camera. "What's up?"

"Nothing." Tori said back.

"Where's Uncle Roger? He said we could get pizza." Tony said to his sister.

"He's sleep on the couch Tony. Wake him up would you?" Tori suggested. Tony shrugged and went over to where Roger was asleep. Tori watched through the camera as he poked Roger on the shoulder.

"Uncle Roger." Tony said in a singsong voice. "Oh Uncle Roger it's time to get up." he received no response from his sleeping uncle so he ran upstairs to get his guitar. He started to play sweetly then he struck a wrong chord loud and purposefully.

Roger sat up. "Shit!" he said rubbing his ear. He saw that Tony was the cause of the horrible sound "Now that was completely uncalled for Tony." he said. "I wasn't even sleep."

Lea laughed from the other side of the room. "Yes you were Uncle Roger. Tori has you on film." she said.

Roger turned to Victoria who was indeed holding her lavender video camera. "You are getting way too much like your Dad, Tori." he told her. "Back when we were younger, his favorite thing to do was film me doing crazy or embarrassing things. Anyway what do you want?"

"It's pizza time Uncle Rog." Tony said putting his guitar aside and handing Roger the phone. As he did, it began to ring.

"Just let the machine get it." Roger advised. So they did. Soon the sound of Maureen's voice filled the room as the answering machine picked up.

"Hey you've reached the Cohens. This isn't our answering machine, it's a thought recording device. Think about leaving your name and number and we'll think about calling you back. Thanks!"

Roger shook his head. Only Maureen would do something like that, and only Mark loved her enough to let her.

"Hello Roger." Angel's voice sang out from the machine. "I know you're there. Collins took Roberto to the doctor today so Gabriella and I are coming to hang out with you and the little Cohens for a while. I know you aren't cooking, so when you order pizza get one with no meat for me and the Gabster. See you soon!"

Lea's eyes widened in awe. "Auntie Angel is amazing." she said softly.

"You can say that again Lea." Roger said nodding


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

True to her word, Angel drove up to the Cohen's house fifteen minutes later. Lea, who was watching for her out the window, announced her arrival to everyone else. Tori ran up with her camera so she could get some footage of her Aunt and cousin.

Angel and Gabriella came up to the door and rang the bell. Seconds later Tony answered it.

"Hey Aunt Angel." he greeted her. "Hey Gabs." he moved aside and let them come in. As soon as they were in the house, Tori came up with her camera.

"Close on Aunt Angel." she narrated. "Our most stylish Aunt and a bundle of fun. And here comes Gabs, Aunt Angel's daughter and our cousin. How are you ladies doing today?"

Angel smiled at her niece. "Oh we're just fine darling. You kids aren't running poor Roger ragged are you?" she asked.

"Why of course not Aunt Angel." Tori replied with a wicked grin. "You know us." Angel laughed and made her way into the living room. Gabriella leaned over to Tori, "I think that's why she was worried." she joked. The two girls followed into the living room where Roger had fallen back asleep. Angel was surveying him with her hands on her hips.

"How long has he been asleep?" she asked.

"Well he was sleep before you called and he went back to sleep about five minutes before you got here." Tony told her. Angel rolled her eyes and then smacked Roger on the head with her purse. He awoke with a jolt as the kids collapsed in hysterics.

"Ouch. Oh hey Angel." he grunted rubbing his head. "Could we lose some of the violence please?"

"Roger aren't you supposed to be babysitting?" Angel inquired.

"I am babysitting." Roger protested. "But seeing as there are no actual babies here, I think I can afford to take a little nap."

"Roger there is so a baby here!" Angel cried out. Roger looked at her confused, then right on cue Alex began to cry.

"Oh." Roger said simply. "So what am I supposed to do about that whole crying thing?" he asked.

"You're supposed to go and find out what's wrong with him. He might be hungry or he might need changing. Didn't Mark and Maureen have you watch Tony or Victoria as babies?" Angel asked exasperatedly.

"Uh no." Roger responded. "Okay, so where exactly is Little Alex?"

Angel flopped down on the couch with a frustrated groan. Tony stopped laughing and took pity on Roger. "Come on Uncle Rog. I'll show you how it's done." he said and headed for the stairs. Roger shrugged and followed him.

Tony led him into the nursery where Alex was laying in the crib screaming his lungs out.

"What's wrong with him?" Roger asked covering his ears.

"That's what we have to find out." Tony said as he picked up his little brother. "He's teething and he's probably just uncomfortable and a little hungry."

"I can sympathize with him there." Roger said. "Why don't you bring Alex downstairs and we'll find him something to eat and then order pizza." he suggested.

"That sounds like a plan." Tony agreed. "Come on little guy." he cooed to Alex. "Time to get you some food and your teething ring."

They went back downstairs where Angel was showing the girls her new pink cell phone. "So I see you found the baby." she remarked dryly as they walked into the living room.

"Well with him making all that noise it wasn't exactly that hard." Roger said back. "Why don't you girls order the pizza while Tony shows me how to feed this kid?"

"Alright." Tori said from the couch. She picked up the phone and pressed a button. Seeing Roger's look she added. "We've got the pizza place on speed dial." Roger shook his head thinking how much the kids were like him and Mark in the old days. Then he followed Tony into the kitchen.

"So what does Alex eat?" he wanted to know.

"Well he can eat semi-solid foods like peas and steamed carrots. And he loves applesauce." Tony replied as he went to the cabinet and opened it with one hand. "And luckily for us, we've got all of that."

"Okay so what am I supposed to do?" Roger asked. Tony came over and handed him the child.

"Put him in the high chair over there and get a plate out for him." he instructed. "Meanwhile I'll heat up the food and get him some juice."

Roger obeyed and put Alex in the high chair without incident. Then when Tony said the food was warm, he brought the plate over.

"Okay." Tony said as they went and sat down at the table, "He likes to eat the peas and carrots with his hands and Mom says we should let him do that for awhile then feed him the applesauce."

Roger watched as Alex picked up handfuls of the food and shoved them into his mouth. "Now that's the way to eat little guy." he said grinning. When he had eaten all of the vegetables Tony cleared the plate away and got the applesauce out. Then he handed the jar and spoon to Roger.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" Roger wanted to know.

Tony laughed. "You're supposed to feed him the applesauce." Seeing Roger's expression, he laughed harder and said, "Just dip the spoon in the jar, get a little bit of it on there and put it in Alex's mouth."

Roger looked wary, so Tony took the jar and spoon from him. "Like this Uncle Roger." he said demonstrating by successfully feeding his brother some of the applesauce. Then he handed it back to Roger.

"I can do that." he said confidently. He spooned up a little applesauce and fed it to Alex, who ate it quickly. Empowered by his success he dipped up a bigger spoonful. _Maybe_ _I_ can _handle this whole baby thing_. He thought to himself.

"Uh, that might be too much Uncle Roger." Tony warned.

"It'll be okay." Roger assured him as he put the spoon in the baby's mouth. Alex held the applesauce in his mouth for a second and then proceeded to spit the mouthful out and burst into tears. _Then again, maybe not._

"Well so much for that." Tony said sighing. "But you did good for your first time." Then he picked up his brother and carried him into the living room. "Tori's the expert on cleaning him up, so I'll let her handle that."

Tori looked up as her brothers came into the room. "The pizzas should be here in about ten minutes, and what is wrong with Alexander?"

"Uncle Roger was feeding him and it went kind of bad." Tony told her.

Tori shook her head and took the baby from Tony. "Come here little brother." she cooed. "Let's go get you cleaned up." She turned to Roger. "Get his teething ring from Lea Uncle Roger, and meet me in the bathroom."

Roger sighed. "This baby will be the death of me." he groaned.

"You mean Alex, or your own kid that's coming?" Angel asked him.

"Both." was the reply. "Lea where's his ring thingy?" he asked his niece. Lea looked up from where she was playing Scrabble with Gabriella.

"Hold on." she said and got up. She went over to the play pen that was in the corner and retrieved a blue plastic thing." Then she handed it to Roger.

"And this would be?" Roger asked her.

Lea giggled. "It's his teething ring. You fill it with cool water and put it in Alex's mouth. Then he'll chew on it and the water cools the ring and it soothes his gums."

Roger gaped at the girl. "Okay you're six. How the hell do you know all this shit?" he wanted to know.

Lea shrugged. "Tony, Tori and I always help Mommy and Daddy take care of Alex. And you're not supposed to say the h- word Daddy says."

"The s- word either." Gabriella commented from her spot on the floor.

Roger smiled at the girls. "Sorry." he said. "I'm trying to stop cursing. Will you help me?"

"How about for every curse word, you give each of us a dollar?" Tony suggested.

"Yeah!" the girls agreed.

"Okay, I guess I can do that." Roger said. "Hey Angel, you got any singles on you?" he asked her.

Angel opened her purse, "How many do you need?"

Roger reached into his pocket to see how much money he had. He found a crumpled twenty that he vaguely remembered owing Mark and traded it with Angel for twenty dollar bills. Then he handed two each to Tony, Lea, and Gabriella and went up the stairs to help Tori.

When he got up there to the bathroom, she was wrapping Alex in a towel. Seeing Roger there she explained, "I decided to give him his bath since it's almost his bedtime."

"What do you want me to do?" Roger asked her.

"Well he needs a new diaper and his pajamas. You could get the clothes while I change him." she responded.

"Alright I can do that." Roger said going into the baby's room.

"Make the clothes match please Uncle Roger." Tori called after him. Roger rolled his eyes. What was it with girls and matching clothes? As long as they had clothes wasn't that good enough? Nonetheless, he found a pair of little blue footie pajamas that he thought would work and brought them back into the bathroom.

Tori had finished changing her brother and she approved the pajamas Roger had picked out. Together they got Alex dressed and he quickly went to sleep. Roger even got to carry him to the crib and tuck him in. Then they left the room and Tori gently closed the door behind them.

"Uncle Roger," she said. "I think you might just be able to handle a baby." Roger grinned at her and then handed her two dollars.

"What's this for?" Tori wanted to know.

"You guys are going to help me watch my language. Tony suggested that I give each of you a dollar for every curse word I say." Roger explained.

"Awesome!" Tori said. "I'll be rich by the end of the weekend." Then the doorbell rang. "That'll be the pizza." she said.

"Hey what do you mean you'll be rich?" Roger asked her indignantly.

"No offence Uncle Roger, but you curse a lot." Tori clarified. "Now come on it's pizza time and someone's got to pay the delivery boy." Roger sighed and then followed his niece down the stairs.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Once the pizzas were consumed, Angel and Gabriella left with a promise to come back the next day. Left alone with the children, Roger didn't quite know what to do to keep them entertained. Luckily, they had their own ideas about that.

"So what happens now?" Roger asked them.

"Well we usually do our chores after dinner and then we get our baths and just hang out until we go to bed." Tony said.

"What do you mean hang out?"

"You know, we play video games or just chill and watch T.V. with Mom and Dad. Usually I play my guitar and Dad teaches Tori how to edit her films." Tony explained.

"But that's boring sometimes." Lea added.

"Okay so what do you want to do tonight?" Roger wanted to know.

"Tell us a story Uncle Roger." Tori suggested. "Tell us about the old days when you and Mom and Dad used to live in that loft."

"Yeah." Tony and Lea said in unison.

"I can do that." Roger agreed. "So you go do your chores. Then we'll all get a bath and I'll tell you guys a story."

"What about our homework?" Tony asked.

"Hey it's like I always say, never do today what you can put off until tomorrow." Roger told him. "Now the faster you get those chores done the faster you get a story."

"But Uncle Roger, can't we just put them off until tomorrow?" Tori asked him.

Roger looked around at the house. It wasn't really that messy. "Good point Tori. I suppose you can just do them tomorrow. But you have to take baths tonight. Some things are too important to put off." he said. The kids ran off to their bathrooms and Roger went out to his car to get his bag.

He was sleeping in the guest room of Mark and Maureen's big house. His friends had really come a long way from where they had been. Maureen was an award-winning actress in many musicals. Mark had also won awards. He was still a documentary filmmaker, who was praised for his looks at the real world and he even had a running documentary series called _How The Other Half Lives. _Roger and Mimi weren't that bad off either. They lived in a nice house a few miles away from the Cohens. Roger composed the music for many of Mark's films and still sold some of his own music. Mimi was a Broadway dancer. She too was cast in many musicals. All in all, they had all been successful in their lives.

Roger took a quick shower in the guest bathroom of the house and decided to put on decent bedclothes, unlike what he wore when he was around Mimi, because of the children. As he was making his way back down the stairs the phone started to ring. He jumped the last three stairs and ran to answer it.

"Hello, Cohen residence." he said.

"Hey Roger!" came Maureen's voice on the other end. "How's everything going?" she asked.

"Everything's fine Mo." he assured her. "Alex is in the bed and the others are taking their baths. Then I'm going to tell them a story." Apparently he was on speakerphone because he heard Mark say "Keep it PG please Rog."

"Of course. You know me." Roger said with a smirk.

"Right." Mark said. "Did they do their homework and chores?"

"Uh yeah. Oh and Angel and Gabs stopped by earlier." Roger answered changing the subject. "Hey is Mimi around?"

"Hold on I'll get her." Maureen said. Then she yelled, "Meems come talk to your husband!"

There was a pause and he heard Mimi say, "Take it off of the speaker." He heard the click that meant they'd obeyed and then Mimi said to him, "Hey baby."

"Hello my lovely." he responded. "How's it going with Mo's mom? If I remember correctly she's the opposite of our dear Madam Loudmouth."

Mimi giggled. "They started arguing the moment we got here. Still it feels nice to be somewhere besides home for a while. I miss you though." she said.

"I miss you too. But I have good news. This babysitting thing is pretty easy. I think I can handle being a father." Roger replied.

"That's wonderful honey. I gotta go now, but I'll call you tomorrow okay."

"Bye Mimi. I love you."

"I love you too. Good night." As soon as he got off the phone, the kids came thundering down the stairs.

"Story time!" they said.

"Okay, okay. Your parents and Aunt Mimi said good night by the way. So what story do you want to hear?"

The kids consulted each other for a moment and then Tori said, "How about you tell us about when you first met our Mom."

Roger's green eyes widened. "That's a wonderful choice Tori." he had to think about it for a minute though. It was so long ago. "Okay." he said finally. "It was raining outside that day and I was bored out of my mind."

_It was an understatement to say that it was simply raining outside. It was pouring. Roger was stretched out on the couch staring at a stain on the dingy wall. Collins was sitting in a chair reading a book and Benny was asleep in his room._

_Roger sighed for what had to have been the hundredth time. _

_Collins put his book down and looked at him. "What are you staring at Roger?" he asked._

_"That stain on the wall." Roger replied. "I was just wondering where it came from and why we haven't tried to get it off."_

_Collins looked at the stain in question and then back at Roger. "It's from that time Mark threw spaghetti sauce at you because you messed with his camera. And it's still there for the same reason that every thing else in this place looks a mess. You and Mark are lazy bums who never clean."_

_"You could clean too you know Collins." Roger retorted._

_"I" Collins said going back to his book. "have a job. I do my part just by feeding you freeloaders." _

_Roger had to agree that without Collins, he and Mark would probably starve. _

_"Where is Mark anyway?" Collins was asking. "I haven't seen him today."_

_"He went out with that Maureen chick again. He said that we actually get to meet her today."_

_"You mean that loud girl who leaves those weird messages on the machine for someone named 'Pookie'?" Collins asked._

_"That's the one, and apparently Pookie is our little Marky." Roger said. He yawned. "Still can't believe Mark has a girlfriend and I don't."_

_"Roger, you never have girlfriends. You have crazed groupies who worship the ground you have sex with them on." Benny said as he came out of his room. "You're not the romantic type. Besides, Mark deserves to have a girlfriend, he's nice."_

_"I'm nice too." Roger protested. "I'm very nice." Benny and Collins exchanged a look at this, causing Roger to say loudly. "Well I would be nice if my so called friends weren't such assholes." _

_"Whatever you say Rog." Collins said without looking up from his book. _

_"What are you reading anyway?" Roger wanted to know. Collins held up the book so Roger could see the title. "Like that really helps." the latter said sarcastically. _

_"Oh I'm sorry Roger." Collins said politely. "I forgot you couldn't read. They tried to teach you, but you ended up having sex with your English teacher and never finished learning."_

_Roger threw a pillow at Collins who laughed. "See." Roger said flopping back onto the couch. "You guys are such fucking assholes."_

_Then the front door slid open to reveal Mark and a young woman. She was tall, about the same height as Mark, with wavy brown hair that was highlighted with pink streaks. She wore baggy jeans, flip-flops, and a tight lavender shirt that said _Don't Hate Me 'Cause I'm Smarter Than You. _She skipped in ahead of Mark and the stood in the middle of the room. Mark came in, sliding the door closed behind him, and took the young woman's hand._

_"You guys," he said. "this is Maureen Johnson. Maureen these are my friends and roommates. That's Collins in the chair, Benny over in the kitchen, and the slob on the couch is my best friend Roger."_

_"It's nice to meet you all." Maureen said with a smile. She looked around at the loft. "I can totally see myself living here." she said._

_"What do you mean living here?" Roger asked loudly. _

_Maureen turned to Mark, "Honey you didn't tell them?"_

_Mark turned red. "Um, well I was going to get to it eventually. I mean I was going to do it before you actually moved in." he stammered out._

_Maureen kissed him on the cheek and then said, "Well you discuss things with the boys and I'm going to freshen up in the bathroom." Once she was gone, Collins, Roger, and Benny all turned to Mark._

_"We're you even going to ask us about this Mark?" Collins wanted to know. _

_"Look you guys. Maureen has a job, she's my girlfriend and I love her. Just do this for me and I promise I'll make it up to you." Then he turned to Roger. "Plus she can cook and has money to buy food."_

_"Alright Mark, we'll go with this just because it's you and we want to see you happy." Benny said._

_"Yeah." said Collins. "Plus I think I like that girl. She'll be good for you."_

_Mark looked at Roger. "Hey you had me when you said she could cook and had money." Roger told him._

_Mark sighed with relief. "Thank you so much you guys. I know you'll like her."_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"And that's how I first met your mom." Roger said as he finished the story. The kids all looked at him.

"Wow." Lea said. "So Mommy moved in with you and Uncle Collins and Daddy and Mr. Coffin?"

"Yep, and our lives were never the same." Roger replied. Then he looked at the clock. "Unless I'm much mistaken, Little Lea, it's your bedtime."

Right on cue, Lea yawned. "But I'm not tired." she protested.

Roger chuckled and said, "Tell you what, if you agree to go to bed right now I'll give you a piggy back ride."

"Okay." Lea said and jumped on Roger's back. "Let's go Uncle Roger!" Roger carted her up the stairs on his back as Tony and Tori laughed. Once they were gone Tony turned to his sister.

"I think Uncle Roger is going to be a good dad." he said.

Tori nodded. "I think so too. He just needs to learn the basics of baby care and he'll be okay."

When they reached Lea's room she climbed down from Roger's back and jumped onto her bed. Roger looked around at the pink room and frowned.

"What's the matter Uncle Roger? Don't you like pink?" Lea asked.

"Not particularly." Roger replied. "But your Aunt Mimi loves it, and if she gives birth to a girl, our whole house will be pink."

Lea giggled. "That would be pretty."

"Not to me it wouldn't." Roger protested. Then he smiled at his little niece. "Can I tell you a secret Lea?" he asked.

Lea nodded. "Of course Uncle Roger."

"I hope your Aunt Mimi has a boy. I need a son to carry on the family name and I already have you and Tori to spoil. You're almost like my daughters."

"Well we are your god-daughters after all." Lea replied. "If you do have a boy, I hope he's like you Uncle Roger."

"Why's that?" Roger wanted to know.

Lea yawned and climbed under the covers. "Because you're really cool and I love you." she said.

Roger smiled at that and tucked her in. "Thank you Lea. I love you too." Then he kissed her on the forehead, cut off her light and went back downstairs.

Tori and Tony were involved in a serious Super Smash Bros. battle on their Game Cube when he came back into the living room. Roger watched for a while and then took on Tori when Tony sat back to play his guitar. He lost three battles in a row.

"Shit!" he swore after the third one. The kids held out their hands and Roger sighed and gave them each a dollar.

Then Tony laughed. "Uncle Roger, I can't believe you got beat by a girl."

Tori put her hands on her hips. "And just what is that supposed to mean Anthony Roger Cohen?" she demanded.

"Uh, just that Uncle Roger is a grown man. He should be able to beat you, even though you're really good." Tony stuttered. Then as an after thought, "And would you lay off that full name stuff Victoria Joanne Cohen?"

Roger grinned. "That's enough you two. Yeah Tori beat me, but I'm old and my reflexes aren't what they used to be."

"Oh please Uncle Roger. You're only like thirty-five." Tori retorted.

"Actually I'm thirty-seven." Roger corrected. "A little old to be having my first child, but the wisdom I've gotten is good."

Tony and Tori looked at each other and burst out laughing, but they quickly stopped once they saw the look on Roger's face.

"Hey I have some wisdom I'll have you know. You can't survive for nearly ten years in the East Village with out having some kind of wisdom." he said.

Roger continued to play the game with Tori, actually winning few games after he got the hang of how to play. Tony was playing his guitar picking out the first song he was ever taught to play, Musetta's Waltz and soon Roger found himself humming along with the notes. It went on like that for a while until Tori yawned and said she was going to get ready for bed. She hugged her Uncle and smacked her brother fondly on the back of the head, then went up the stairs.

Her room was painted a pale sunny yellow. In one corner was her TV. and film equipment; in another, were her bookshelves full of books. She loved to read and film like her father and she had her mother's flair for decorating. Once she had brushed her blond hair and tied it up with a scarf, she got into her bed and started to read a book. About an hour later Tony walked by on the way to his room.

"Night Tori." he called.

"Good night Tony." she said back. Her clock said that it was after eleven o'clock so she decided to go to bed. Just as she was getting ready to cut off her lamp, Roger walked by. "You going to sleep now Tori?" he asked.

Tori answered by yawning. "Yeah, I'm really tired." she said. "Oh and Uncle Roger, there's a baby monitor in your room. When you hear Alex crying in the morning, that means he's ready to get up."

"Okay." Roger replied. "See you in the morning." Soon they were all asleep and Roger's first day as a babysitter was a success.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 7

"So I knew both your dad and Roger before they knew each other. I had music class with Roger and science with Mark. We were in what- the ninth grade?" Gwen started.

"Yeah, it was ninth grade." Roger confirmed. The children had just finished their homework and Gwen was telling them about how she had introduced Mark and Roger to each other with a little help from Roger.

"There was a time when you didn't know Dad?" Lea asked her uncle in wonderment.

Roger smiled at her. "Lea there was a time when I didn't even like your dad that much." The kids all looked at each other in surprise. All they had ever been told was about what good friends he and Mark always were. This was new for them.

"Anyway," Gwen continued. "Mark and I had lunch together and then one day Roger got his schedule changed to our lunch. Back then Roger was- well let's say he was a bit of a loner. We only became friends because of our love of music. So that day Roger came over to the table where Mark and I ate lunch everyday." She turned to Roger. "You remember the first thing you said to me then?"

He grinned. "Yeah, it was 'Who's the dork and why is he here?'" They all laughed at that.

"You should have seen how red Mark turned then. But I smoothed it over and made introductions. It turned out that Roger had to get his schedule changed to pick up an extra science class and as fate would have it he got put in the class Mark and I had. We made it through lunch and then went to science. I'll let Roger tell you what happened next."

Roger rolled his eyes but took up the story. "We were walking down the hall and I noticed your dad was behind us. So I asked Gwen why he was following us. I think my exact words were 'Why is that nerd following us?' That's when I found out he was in our class. It turned out that there was an odd number of people in the class. Everyone else had lab partners and I had to join Mark and Gwen to make a group of three."

Gwen smiled. "Ah those were lovely days." she said sarcastically. "Those two wouldn't talk to each other and I had to go between them so we could get our work done. It was all 'Gwen, tell old albino four eyes to pass the striker.' and 'Gwen could you ask that wanna be rocker junkie to hand me the beaker?' It was crazy. And then one day I got sick and didn't come to school."

"What happened?" Tori asked.

"Your dad and I had to work together for the first time and it wasn't easy. We were supposed to be building a catapult to measure pro- something or other." Roger said.

"Propulsion?" Tony suggested.

"Yeah that's it propulsion." Roger said. "Anyway, it's rather hard to try to build something when you don't talk to your partner. I was trying to attach the rubber band to the bottom of the catapult to connect to the part that launches. Mark looked over and saw I was having some trouble. He started giving these complicated instructions and I just stared at him for a minute. Then he said 'Tie it at the top and then string it down to the bottom, like if you were restringing a guitar.' I tried it and it worked. So I thanked him, the next time I looked at him he was trying to attach the wheels. And no offence kids, but your dad isn't that strong. I asked him if he wanted me to do it and he handed it to me. I fixed it, he thanked me and we kept moving. Eventually we were talking and we finished to project. It was the first A I'd actually earned back then and it meant something to me."

"I came back the next day and they were comparing the bands they liked at lunch. I thought I had walked into the twilight zone or something. But since that day they were civil to each other, although it took them nearly another year to become real friends." Gwen finished.

"How did you guys become real friends?" Lea asked.

"The next school year he got put in my math class." Roger said. "We got a new teacher who knew absolutely nothing, and your father and I led a mini revolt against her."

The kids all stared. "Dad led a revolt?" they exclaimed.

"I told you your dad used to break rules." Roger reminded them. "Although it was due to my influence that he even got involved. See one day we were supposed to be studying triangles. The teacher spent about half an hour rambling about the different ways to find the 360 of a triangle."

_Roger looked at the teacher and then raised his hand. "Um, Ms. Bradshaw, there are 180 in a triangle." he corrected her._

_Ms. Bradshaw lowered her glasses and said, "And just how do you figure that Mr. Davis? Can you prove your theory?" _

_Roger of course wasn't the brightest student, but he knew someone who was. He turned in his seat to look questioningly at Mark Cohen, who was sitting a few seats behind him in the next row. "Could you help me out here?" he mouthed at him. _

_Mark threw him a look of panic. "Why me?" he mouthed back._

_Roger raised an eyebrow and smirked. "I'm waiting Mr. Davis." Ms. Bradshaw said. "I'll thank you to stop interrupting class with theories you can't back up." she turned to go back to the board._

_Mark heaved an audible sigh and softly said, "It's not a theory Ms. Bradshaw."_

_She turned around and glared at him. "Did you have a comment Mr. Cohen?"_

_"I said that it's not a theory." Mark repeated. "Roger's right, there are 180 in a triangle. It's very simple to prove if you have the right formula. As a matter of fact I've been sitting here solving the problems you did, the correct way." _

_"Then by all means come show us on the board, since you think you're a better teacher than me. Maybe I should just quit and let you and Roger teach if you know so much." Ms. Bradshaw challenged. _

_Mark went pale at the thought of going up in front of the class. Luckily Roger caught that. He got out of his seat and went back to Mark's. "Give me the paper." he said. Roger had no problems with going up there and showing the teacher up. Mark handed him his work and he marched up to the front of the classroom and began to write on the board. Mark had written little notes on his paper about how to correctly solve the problem, which Roger read out loud as he wrote._

_Once he was done he explained everything to the class on his own, because thanks to Mark's notes he understood what the problems were about and how to solve them. Then he turned to Ms. Bradshaw. "I'll be expecting your resignation by Friday." he said with a wicked grin._

_She narrowed her eyes. "I'll have you expelled." she said dangerously._

_Just then Mark leapt to his feet. "Then I'll have you fired. My father is on the school board. I'm sure he'd be very upset to find out one of my teachers was so crappy she got showed up by a C student." he said back with as much malice as he could muster. Which, considering he was terrified to be talking back to a teacher, wasn't much. But he got his point across nonetheless. Other kids started chiming in their calls for Ms. Bradshaw's resignation, until the bell rang signaling the end of the class period._

_Mark rushed out as fast as he could. He felt the need to throw up after his display of disregard for authority. Before he could make it to the bathroom he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and looked into Roger's green eyes._

_"You were so great back there Mark. I didn't think you had it in you." Roger said proudly. _

_"Me either." Mark admitted. "I just didn't want you to get into trouble for showing her how stupid she was." _

_Roger looked at him, genuinely touched by his caring. "Come on Cohen, let's go to lunch. I'll buy you a soda." he said._

_"Make it an ice-cream sandwich and you've got a deal." Mark said back, the urge to throw up forgotten. Roger smiled and led the way to the cafeteria. The next day they found out Ms. Bradshaw was on sabbatical with no pay for the rest of the year. It was a double victory for Roger. He had made an effective change, and gained a new friend._

When Roger got done telling the story the kids were in awe. "See I told you your dear old dad was a badass." he gloated. "Now I think it's time to stop putting off your chores and get them done so we can chill for the rest of the day when Collins and Angel come over."

"Alright." Tony agreed for all of them. "Oh and Uncle Roger?" he held out his hand. "You cussed."

Roger groaned and handed each child a dollar. Even Alex. Tori put Alex's dollar in the baby's pocket. "Look Alex, at this rate you'll be rich before you can even say money." Then she shot her uncle a wicked grin, much like his own, and ran off to wash the dishes.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 6

Sure enough, Roger was awakened at 8:30 am by the sound of loud crying coming from the baby monitor on the desk beside his bed. "Jeez," he muttered yawning. "The kid's as loud as his mother and an early riser like Mark." He got out of the bed, pulled a shirt over his head, and then went down the hall to Alex's room. "Alright, I hear ya kid." he said as he went into the room.

He lifted Alex from the crib and felt that he needed a diaper change. _Great, now what? _he asked himself. _This is one thing I don't know how to do. _Then he had a thought. Roger carried Alex down the stairs and to the phone in the living room. Angel or Collins would know what to do.

He dialed the number and Collins answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey Collins; I need your help." Roger said.

"What's up man? Is one of the kids dead or something?" Collins joked.

"No, I need to know how to change a diaper."

"That's Angel's department, not mine. Hang on I'll get her for you." A moment later Angel got on the phone. "Hey Roger." she said.

"Angel, I need you to walk me through changing Alex's diaper." Roger told her.

"Okay listen up." Angel said. She told Roger what to do, and after he got over the initial dislike of baby poop, he found that it wasn't hard to change a diaper. "Thanks Ang." he said when he as done.

"No problem sweetie. See you later."

Once Alex was changed, he stopped crying and started making happy baby noises.

Roger grinned. "Well you're easy to please." he said. "See if it stays that way when you get older and you discover women."

There was a cough from the doorway. "Um Uncle Roger, you know Alex can't talk back right?" Tony said as he came down the stairs with Tori on his heels.

"Of course I know that." Roger said back. "But seeing as you two decided to sleep in today, I had to change Alex myself and we kind of bonded."

"Good job Uncle Rog. I knew you could do it." Tori said.

"Well Aunt Angel helped me out over the phone so I can't take all the credit for it." Roger clarified. "So anyway what are you guys doing today?"

The kids just stared blankly at him. Then Tony spoke up. "Uncle Roger it's not like we can just go off and do things without you being around. None of us can drive or anything."

"Jeez, you can't drive Tony?" Roger asked incredulously.

"Uncle Roger, I'm only thirteen!" Tony exclaimed.

"So? When I was thirteen I had been driving for a year already. What are your parents teaching you kids these days?" Roger said.

"Uncle Roger it's against the law for us to drive without a permit. And we can't get one of those until we're fifteen. And even then you have to have a licensed adult in the car with you." Tori said wisely.

"Wow." Roger said surprised. "I never thought I'd see the day when a child of Maureen 'Loudmouth' Johnson would be so concerned about the rules. Didn't your parents tell you anything about when we were living in the East Village? We broke rules all the time."

"Even Dad?" Tori asked.

"Yeah, your dad was right there with us. In fact one time he was the one who caused all the trouble." He looked at the kids. "Okay I'll tell you what. You two go and make some food, I'll get Lea up and while you do your homework I'll tell you about how bad your dad used to be."

"Okay!" They both said and raced off to do as they were told. Roger gathered Alex up and then climbed the stairs to Lea's room. He shuddered again as he took in all the pink and then went over to the bed. Lea was sleeping, so Roger dumped Alex on the bed and let him wake his sister up.

Lea felt something heavy on her and opened her eyes to stare into her baby brother's brown ones. "Hey Alex." she murmured. Then she looked up. "Hey Uncle Roger. What's going on?"

"Good Morning Little Lea." Roger said brightly. "Your brother and sister are making breakfast and then you guys are going to do your homework and I'm going to tell you another story."

Lea jumped up from her bed. "That sounds fun. But can you help me with my math homework Uncle Roger?"

"Of course I can." Roger replied. "I'm a math wiz." Of course he was lying. "So you get dressed or whatever it is little girls do in the morning and meet us downstairs." He grabbed up Alex and then made his way back into the kitchen.

After they had all eaten and gotten dressed, they met in the living room. The kids had their books and stuff to do their homework.

They had just got started when the doorbell rang. "I'll get that." Roger said and went to the front door. A young woman was standing outside.

When he opened the door she shrieked. "Oh my God! I knew it was you. I would know that ass anywhere. I saw you going to get the paper this morning and I said to Sammy, that has got to be Roger Davis." she said all this in a rush.

Roger just looked at her. Then his green eyes went wide. "Gwen?" he asked in disbelief. "Gwen Coverson?"

The woman nodded. "In the flesh my old friend."

"Wow, I haven't seen you since high school." Roger said. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm staying with my cousin Samantha for a while. She lives next door. What about you? Do you live here?" she responded.

Roger shook his head. "No, my best friend does. You remember Mark Cohen." She nodded and he continued. "I'm babysitting his kids for the weekend."

"Some one left you in charge of children?" Gwen asked incredulously. "You must have changed since high school. What have you been up to?"

Roger held up his hand to show his wedding ring. "I got married and I am getting ready to start a family." he said.

"That's great Rog." Gwen said. "Wow, you really have changed. The Roger I knew was not the settling down type."

Roger sighed. "The Roger you knew doesn't exist anymore." he said somberly. Then he changed the subject. "Come on in and meet Mark's kids."

She came in and Roger led her to the living room. "Yo kids listen up." he said. They all looked up. "This is an old friend of your Dad and me. Her name is Gwen Coverson. Gwen this is Anthony, Victoria, Lea and the little one in the play pen thing is Alex." he pointed each of the children out.

"Oh my God!" Gwen squealed. "They look just like Marky. Who's their mother?"

"Her name is Maureen Johnson or rather Maureen Cohen now." Roger said. He pointed to a picture on the wall. "That's her."

"Oh I've seen her perform in the theaters. She's a wonderful actress." Gwen commented. "Go Mark, for landing her."

"Well they have a strange history. It was either get married or kill each other in the end. " Roger told her.

Then Lea piped up. "You knew my Daddy when he was young?" she asked.

Gwen bent down to her level. "Yes I did, we were all friends back then." she said. "You guys want to hear about it?"

They all said they did. "Wait." Roger said. "Homework first, then there will be time for stories." Gwen watched as he helped the kids with their homework as best he could. It was very startling to see, the Roger she had known was not a family person. She wondered just what had affected his change.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

While the kids did their chores, Gwen and Roger took some time to catch up. "So." she began. "You got married. Anybody I know?"

Roger shook his head. "No, her name is Mimi. We've been married for two years and she's pregnant with my first child. That's why I'm here watching Mark's kids. So I can get some practice in."

"That is so great Roger. No one at our old school would have ever thought you'd be a father some day. If you don't mind me asking, what happened to the old Roger?"

He sighed. "A lot happened after I graduated. A lot of stuff I'm really not proud of."

"Let me guess, you fell in with the wrong crowd, made some bad decisions that you really came to regret and had a near death experience that changed your life around." Gwen guessed.

Roger raised an eyebrow. "Um not really." he said. "I did fall in with the wrong crowd and make bad decisions I regretted and death was involved, but not in the way you're thinking. What happened was I got into the heroin scene and it messed up my life, Mark's life and the life of my old girlfriend."

"What do you mean?"

"I lived with Mark back then. He was the one who was always there for me when I was high and when I quit and went through withdrawal. My girlfriend's name was April. She was the one I shot up with. We weren't exactly clean with it and ended up contracting HIV. April felt so bad about it that she killed herself. Now I stay on the straight and narrow path so nothing like that ever happens again."

Gwen's eyes widened. "Wow." she said. "At least you have a good life now to show for all that pain you went through."

"Who are you telling? I thank God every day for getting me out of that craziness." Roger said sincerely. "So what about you? What has the fabulous Gwen Carson been up to lately?"

Gwen giggled. "Still being fabulous of course." she said with a smile. "I did some modeling in the city years ago and then that got old. So now I write for the New York Times."

"That's wonderful Gwen. I always used to tell you how talented you were." Roger reminded her.

"Yeah when you were copying my homework!" she said back and they laughed. Then there was a knock on the door.

"Let me get that." Roger said. He got up, but Lea had already beaten him to the door. She opened it and Angel and Collins came in followed by their kids.

"Hello Lea dear." Angel greeted. "Hey Roger. What's going on?"

"Nothing much." Roger responded after he had hugged the kids. "Just catching up with an old friend." He led them into the living room.

Gwen looked up. "Angel?" she asked in disbelief. "Angel girl is that you?"

"Gwenny!" Angel shrieked. "Girl how are you?" The two hugged while Roger and Collins just stared.

"What are you doing here?" Gwen wanted to know.

"Oh Roger is one of my closest friends." Angel replied. "And this is my Tommy." she said, introducing Collins. "But only I can call him that. He's just Collins to everyone else. And those are our kids Roberto and Gabriella."

"Nice to meet you." Collins chimed in. The kids nodded their hello.

"And what, my darling, are you doing here?" Angel continued.

"I'm visiting my cousin who lives next door. I knew Roger and Mark in high school, so when I saw him here I had to come over." They both turned to look at Roger who was still a little confused.

"And how do you two know each other?" Collins asked for him.

"Oh we used to model together ages ago." Angel replied with a wave of her hand. "We were the fiercest models they had."

"That's right." Gwen agreed. "Angel could work the runway better than anyone I have ever seen. And in six inch heels too."

"I can still do that." Angel told her and strutted around the room to prove it. "Just because I'm older and have kids doesn't mean I've lost my touch."

"You can say that again." Collins said softly, eying Angel's legs as she walked. They all laughed at that. The kids retired to the rec room in the basement while Roger, Angel, Collins, and Gwen sat around talking. After a while the phone rang. Angel was closest to the phone, so she answered it.

"Hello house of Cohen." she said brightly.

"Hi Angel." Mark replied. "How are you?"

"Oh I'm just lovely Marky dear. How are things with the in laws?" she said and put the phone on speaker so every one could hear.

"Very loud." Mark said. "What's going on over there?"

"Collins and I are here and the kids were doing their chores earlier. Now they're in the rec room."

"Hey Mark." Collins greeted.

"Hey Collins." Mark said back. "Be honest, on a scale of one to ten, with ten being a disaster area, how messed up is my house right now?"

Collins laughed and Roger jumped in. "There's nothing wrong with the house Mark. Jeez, have a little faith in your best friend please."

"Yeah Mark, the house looks fine. Roger has matured since high school." Gwen said with a grin. Then she waited to see if he would recognize her voice.

He did. "_Gwen?_" he asked incredulously. "What are you doing over there?"

She laughed. "You live next door to my cousin and I'm visiting her."

"I never knew that." Mark said. "Well I guess I'll see you soon then. We're coming home a day early."

"Why?" Roger wanted to know.

"Maureen and her mother have been arguing nonstop and she's decided she can't take it anymore. So, we're out of here tomorrow." Mark told him.

"Ah the in-laws." Roger said mockingly. "Just be glad your mother in law speaks good English, unlike mine." he advised. "You want to talk to the kids?"

"Yeah." Mark said. "Just let me go and get Maureen." It was quiet for a minute then they heard Maureen's voice.

"I don't care mother!" she was yelling. "We are leaving tomorrow and that's the end of it!" Then she came over to the phone. "Hi Roger." she said brightly.

"Hey Mo. Hold on I'll get the kids." He yelled out, "Yo Cohen kids! Your Parents are on the phone!"

"Alright Uncle Roger we'll get it down here!" Tony called back.

"Bye you guys." Roger said to Mark and Maureen and then hung up the phone. Then he turned to his friends. "So what do you guys want to do today?" he asked.

"Shopping!" Angel and Gwen shrieked in unison.

"I guess we could take the kids to the mall or something." Roger said.

"You sure you want to do that man?" Collins wanted to know. "I mean Mark has a lot of kids. Then me and Ang have our two. That's six kids running around the mall."

"Yeah and there's four of us. I think we can handle a few kids Collins." Roger rebutted.

Collins and Angel exchanged a look. "Famous last words." Collins muttered.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Roger sent Angel down stairs to the rec room to ask the kids if they wanted to go to the mall. The answer was, of course, a resounding yes. So Roger gave everyone an hour to get ready. For Angel and Gwen this meant going home and changing into cuter outfits.

"Why do you need to change?" Roger wanted to know.

"You never know who you could meet at the mall." Angel replied and wiggled her eyebrows.

"Hey!" Collins protested loudly. "You're married you know."

"That doesn't mean I can't look." Angel responded. "Because no matter who I look at out there, at the end of the day it's you I'm going home with."

Collins rolled his eyes and kissed her on the cheek. "I better be." he muttered as

he handed over the keys so Angel could drive home. Then he turned to Roger. "Women man. They can drive a guy crazy."

"Hey, my wife used to be a stripper, so I know all about being driven crazy. The only one of us who doesn't have to worry about that is Mark." he replied.

"That's because no man wants Maureen but him!"

"You better not let mom hear you talking about her like that." Victoria advised as she came up the stairs. "Or it won't matter how much dad likes you two, you'll both be dead men. Although you probably already will be Uncle Roger. What are you thinking, taking all of us kids to the mall?"

"Look." Roger demanded. "Do you want to go to the mall or what?" Tori nodded. "Then chill out. I can handle this. We'll go shopping, have a good time, and come home perfectly safe and happy." he finished. "I know you inherited your father's cynicism, but you're too young to be demonstrating it."

"Whatever." Tori retorted and ran upstairs to get ready.

An hour later, every one was assembled in the living room. They had decided that the girls were going to ride with Angel and Gwen in Collins' SUV and the boys were going to go in Roger's car with him and Collins. It took another half hour but they finally left the house. It was hard for Roger to get Alex's car seat fixed in his car, so by the time they left the kids had made a good deal of spending money from all his cursing.

Collins glanced at his friend. "You sure about this man?" he asked.

"So we got off to a rough start. Every thing else will be fine." Roger told him optimistically. What's sad is that he actually believed it.

The girls were excited about the shopping trip and Tori had brought her camera along. When they reached the local mall all the kids piled out of the two cars and Tori started filming. "March 23, 2006 2:00 pm EST." she narrated. "Uncle Roger had the bright idea to bring us all to the mall. Let's see what happens." They all began the long walk from the parking lot to the front entrance of the mall with Roger pushing Alex's stroller.

"So Gwen and I will take the girls with us and you and Collins can handle the boys right?" Angel said.

"Yeah that sounds good. How about we all meet up at the food court around 3:30?" Roger suggested.

"Okay."

Angel and Gwen took the girls to a clothes store first. "Now girls." she said. "Even though you are young it's never to early to start dressing to kill. Am I right Gwen?"

"Completely darling." Gwen said back. "It's always important to look your best whether you are going to school or to the park because you never know who you could see."

"Exactly. Now you three go and find something you think is cute and try it on and Gwen and I will give you our opinions on it." Angel told them. The girls hurried to obey. There was only one free dressing room so they took turns.

Gabriella went first and Tori filmed as she came out wearing a pink suede skirt and a white top. "Ooh work it Gabs." she laughed as Gabriella walked towards her mother.

"Now that's cute." Gwen commented. "It's classy enough to be worn to school or a dressy event."

Half an hour later, all three girls had picked out some new outfits and Angel had purchased them. "Now we need some jewelry and shoes to go with these simply scrumptious outfits."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

At a quarter after three the girls were wrapping up their shopping and were headed towards the food court. Roger, Collins and the boys had been browsing in the music store. Both Tony and Roger had purchased new strings for their guitars. Collins then went to the book store and made a few purchases. Then they all met back up and headed to the food court themselves.

The girls were already there and Tori, Gabriella, and Lea had gone to order some food. Gwen looked up and saw the guys coming. "It's about time they got here." she said.

Angel looked up as well. "Gwen, wasn't Roger pushing Alex's stroller when we got here?" she asked.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Because now he's not pushing it and neither is Collins. In fact I don't see Alex at all." Angel said worriedly.

"You don't think they…" Gwen said and trailed off. "Surely they didn't."

"I wouldn't put anything past Roger." Angel replied and got up. "Roger where's Alexander?" she asked.

"He's right here." Roger said back in exasperation. "Angel I can handle a few children. God it's not even that serious."

"Right where Roger?" Collins asked noticing that the child wasn't with them. "You don't have him and neither do I."

"Tony where's your brother?" Angel inquired of the boy.

Tony shrugged. "Uncle Roger was pushing the stroller and then I didn't see him after we left the music store so I thought that Uncle Collins had him."

"Okay nobody panic, I'm sure he's around here somewhere." Roger told them. "We'll just have to retrace our steps and Alex will be right where we left him."

"Right where you left him?" Tori said as she, Gabby, and Lea walked over to them. "You left Alex somewhere? Uncle Roger what were you thinking, do you know how many kidnappers and child molesters are out there?"

"Chill out Tori." Roger said. "We're going to find him. Look we'll split up. Angel you, Gab, and Roberto can go look up at customer service and see if anyone found Alex. Collins, you, Gwen and Lea go look at all the places you went to. Tori, Tony and I will retrace my steps. Whoever finds him will call everyone else."

They all went their separate ways. Tori pulled out her camera. "March 23, 2006 3:45 pm EST. My little brother is lost in the mall. I warned Uncle Roger about what could happen if he brought us all here. But did he listen to me? Of course not, no one does. What if he gets abducted by a rapist or a drug addict, or a serial ax murderer?"

"Would you can it Victoria?" Roger growled. "Okay I should have listened to you. But I didn't, and now Alex is lost. So you can stand around blaming me if you want, or you can help me find him."

"Fine." Tori huffed and put the camera away. They walked a little bit further and came upon the music store. Their was a commotion going on in front of the store.

"What's going on?" Tony asked a salesman.

"There's a kid in there that's screaming his little lungs out. No one's claiming him. Not that I blame them." he answered.

Roger, Tori, and Tony exchanged looks and hurried into the store. They followed the sound of the screaming and sure enough, sitting right in front of the Alternative Music section was Alexander.

"Oh thank God!" Tori exclaimed and picked up her brother. "Oh Alex I was so worried about you."

"Yeah it's good to see you little man." Tony agreed. "See Tori Uncle Roger was right. We found Alex right where he left him." He turned to Roger. "This is where you left him right?"

"Yes, this is where I left him. Let me call the others and then we'll get out of here. I've had enough excitement for one day." Roger responded.

Tori flipped out her camera once again. "So we've found Alex. He was safe and sound just like Uncle Roger said he would be and I'm so glad. I learned from this little outing that Uncle Roger is just as irresponsible as I thought he was, but he's trying and that's what really counts."

Roger smiled when he heard that and he put his arm around Tori. "Girl you are so much like your parents that it's not even funny. I'm sorry that I wasn't paying attention to Alex and I promise that I'll never let anything like that happen again. So, are we cool?"

"Yeah Uncle Roger, we're cool." she replied.

They met back up with everyone else, and headed out to the cars so they could go home. When they got there, Angel and Collins grabbed up their kids and left. Gwen left a little after dinner with a promise to return when Mark and Maureen got back. The kids and Roger settled down in front of the television to watch the Saturday night movie. At eight-thirty Roger put Alex to bed and Lea went around ten. Soon it was just Roger, Tori, and Tony who were up.

"Hey Uncle Roger?" Tony asked after a while.

"Yeah?"

"I was born when you guys used to live in that loft right?" he wanted to know.

"Yeah. We moved out about six months after you were born. Why?" Roger replied.

"Well that means it's a part of my history. I think I should go and see where you guys used to live." Tony responded.

"You'll have to ask your parents about that one Tony. It's so not my place to take you there if they don't want you to go."

Tony fell silent, thinking about what his uncle had said. Then Tori spoke up. "Uncle Roger, Daddy once told me that you, Aunt Mimi, Uncle Collins, and Aunt Angel were sick. But he wouldn't really tell me what you guys had. I mean it has to be something bigger than a cold, right?" she asked.

"Yes Victoria. It's much bigger than a cold. Your parents never told you about um, what we all have?" Roger responded.

"Mom tried to once." Tony replied. "But Dad stopped her. He said that we didn't need to know because it wasn't relevant at the time."

Roger shrugged. "Maybe one day he'll change his mind." he said. "Hey I'm going upstairs for a while. I'll be back." He went up to the guest room, pulled out his cell phone and dialed Mark's cell phone number.

"Hey Roger." Mark answered. "Which one of my kids is dead?"

"None of them are dead Mark." Roger replied. "Although we did have a little scare with Alex today at the mall. But that was quickly resolved."

"I don't even want to know." Mark said back. "Just as long as they're all okay."

"They are. Alex and Lea are in the bed and Tony and Tori are downstairs watching T.V. Their chores and homework have been done and everything's under control." Roger told him.

"Good. So what's up then?"

"I was just wondering why the kids don't know that Mimi, Collins, Angel and I have AIDS." Roger said gently. "I know that it's not my place to tell them, but why haven't you?"

Mark sighed. "It's not important right now Roger. You guys are doing fine and I don't want to worry them. You know how much my kids love you, they'd never let you guys out of their sight if they thought you were dying." he replied.

"But we are dying Mark. Slowly but surely, we are dying. Don't you think it would be more painful for them if we just died and they didn't know anything about why?"

"Why are you asking about this now Roger?" Mark wanted to know.

"Tori brought it up a minute ago and I was just curious." Roger was quiet for a while. "You know Mark, now that Mimi's pregnant there's a good chance that something could go wrong. And I hate thinking like that, but it's the truth. Our baby could come out HIV positive, and I really think that all the kids should know why."

Mark sighed again. "Look Roger. You have a good point. We'll talk about this when Maureen and I get back, okay?"

"Okay." Roger answered. "Night Mark. Tell Mimi to turn her phone on."

"Got it." Mark said and hung up.

Roger called Mimi and they talked for about an hour. Then he went back downstairs. The kids were asleep on the couch. Roger woke them up and sent them to bed. He made sure all the doors were locked and then went to bed himself.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Tony woke up that next morning to find Victoria sitting at the foot of his bed. He looked up at her quizzically.

"Did you notice that Uncle Roger seemed a little sad when he sent us to bed last night Tony?" Tori asked her big brother.

"Yeah. I think he was talking to Mom and Dad when he went upstairs." he replied.

"I think he asked them about what we were talking about. You know about him and the others being sick. I hope we didn't upset him." Tori said quietly.

"He seemed really surprised that we didn't know what they are sick with. I guess it's something common." Tony said with a shrug.

"Or maybe it's something really serious and they're trying to protect our feelings." Tori suggested. The siblings were having this conversation and they were oblivious to the fact that Roger was having a similar one about the same topic. He'd called Collins when he woke up to ask him some questions.

Or more specifically on question. "Do Gabby and Roberto know that you and Angel have AIDS?" he asked as soon as Collins had picked up the phone.

"Of course they do. Me and Angel made sure that they knew exactly what was going on with us. You know I've never been uptight about my condition and Angel thought it was beyond important information." Collins had answered. "Why the sudden interest?"

Roger sighed. "Mark's kids don't know." he said simply. "He said that it wasn't relevant information."

"Well you can't blame him for not wanting to worry them. I mean it's not like we're their parents or anything." Collins reasoned.

"Collins, Victoria thought we had like really bad colds!" Roger exclaimed. "I know that they're not my kids, but I think they should know something."

"You know why Mark hasn't said anything right?"

"Because he's overprotective and anal?"

"Yeah that, but also because if he doesn't say it out loud, he thinks he can make it go away. He's always been like that." Collins said. "You know his greatest fear is being alone."

Roger sighed. "Well they'll be home later tonight or early tomorrow morning, so I guess we'll talk about it then. I'll talk to you later okay man?"

"Yeah, later."

Roger stretched and looked over at the clock. It was a quarter after nine and his phone was ringing again. He saw from the caller ID that was Maureen.

"Hey Mo." he answered. "What's up?"

"We're getting ready to leave my Mom's house in about an hour and we should be home around eight tonight." she told him.

"The kids should be happy to hear that. I know they miss you and all that stuff." Roger said.

"Mark told me about what you told him last night. Tell them Roger." Maureen said to him.

"I can't do that Maureen. Mark doesn't want me to." He protested.

"I'm their mother and I want them to know. Mark is so far in denial that he can't see how important this is. So I'm using my motherly powers and overruling him."

"Maureen…" Roger said warily.

"Look Davis, who are you more afraid of, me or Mark? Just do what I said or I'm going to beat the crap out of you and make Mimi end up a single mother. Do I make myself clear?" Maureen threatened.

"Okay don't get violent. I'll tell them. But if Mark comes after me, I'm sending him your way." Roger acquiesced.

"Alright. I'll deal with him when that comes. Thank you Roger, this is important to me."

"I know Maureen." Roger took a deep breath. "I think the kids are up now so let me go do this before I punk out." He hung up the phone and went to get dressed. By the time he had gotten downstairs, all the kids were in the kitchen eating.

"Hi Uncle Roger." Lea said as she looked up and saw him. "You look sad, what's wrong?"

Roger picked Lea up, sat in her chair, and put her in his lap. "I just got done talking to your mom. Her and your dad should be home around eight tonight. And there's something I need to tell you guys, it's very important."

"What is it?" Tony asked. "Are Mom and Dad okay?"

"They're fine. Your mother wants me to tell you guys what's really wrong with Aunt Mimi, Uncle Collins, Aunt Angel, and me. Now Mark doesn't want you to know but I think it's important. So we're not going to tell him about this, okay?"

"Okay." They all agreed.

Roger sighed and began the story. "Back when we were living in the loft things were different than they were now. It was harder and we had to do things we weren't exactly proud of. Mimi was a junkie stripper, Angel was a street musician slash dog killer, Collins was a teacher, and I varied between a junkie musician and unemployed."

"What's a junkie?" Lea wanted to know.

"Someone who addicted to something. In our case it was drugs." Roger answered her sadly. He decided to shorten the story and make it as kid friendly as possible. "Long story short we all have AIDS."

The kitchen was deadly silent and Lea and Tori began to cry softly. "So what does that mean? Are you guys about to die or something?" Tony asked.

"No, we have had AIDS for a long time and we're fine. But we do have to be careful about what do and take our medicine." Roger told him.

"If you take your medicine all the time, will you guys get better?" Toni asked between sobs.

Roger shook his head. "Not really. It will help a little, but there is no cure for AIDS." Tori cried harder, which made Lea do the same. Roger scooped them into his arms. "Come on now, we're all okay. We don't dwell on it and keep living our lives. Sure one day we won't be here, but everyone has to die sometime, right?"

"I don't want you to die Uncle Roger." Lea wailed.

"I know, I know. Don't worry I'm here, and it's going to take a lot get rid of me. The same with Aunt Mimi, Uncle Collins, and Aunt Angel. So don't get so upset." he soothed.

"Yeah you guys." Tony chimed in. "Don't cry. Uncle Roger's already practically ancient now and he's still kicking. They'll all be okay."

After a few minutes later the girls had calmed down, but were still clutching their uncle tightly. "Don't worry Uncle Roger." Lea said after a while. "When I grow up I'm going to become a doctor and find a cure. Then you'll all be safe."

Roger smiled and kissed the girl on the head. "I'll look forward to that Lea." he said genuinely.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Roger and the kids spent the rest of the day cleaning the house from top to bottom. Angel and Collins came over a little later in the evening and Roger pulled them to the side before the kids could get to them.

"I told them." he said simply. "They know we have AIDS now."

Angel gasped. "I thought you weren't supposed to do that Roger." she said and hit him with her purse. "Mark didn't want them to know."

"Yeah well Maureen told me that if I didn't tell them she was going to make Mimi a widow. So I told them." Roger responded.

"How'd they take it?" Collins wanted to know.

"Tony was cool about it, but the girls cried. Alex isn't old enough to understand yet, so he wasn't fazed." Roger chuckled. "Lea said that she was going to grow up and invent the cure for AIDS actually."

"If only she could." Angel said wistfully.

The kids came out of the kitchen where they had been washing dishes and saw Angel and Collins. The girls ran to hug them while Tony hung back. After being reassured that they were okay, they all sat down and ate dinner. Roger did those dishes and then challenged Tori to a Smash Brothers tournament on the Game Cube.

They had been playing for about an hour when Gwen knocked on the door. Tony ran to answer it.

"Hi Gwen." he said a little shyly.

"Hello there Tony. I think your parents are on the way. My cousin Sammy just told me she saw their van coming up the street."

"Cool." he said and ran back to tell the others. Soon there was the sound of a key turning in the lock on the door and Mark called out, "We're home!"

"Daddy!" Lea shrieked and ran to him with Tori not far behind. Mark hugged his kids and then moved out of the way so Maureen and Mimi could come in.

Roger's eyes lit up when he saw his wife and he went over to her. "Guess what?" he said softly.

"What?" she asked with a smile.

"I missed you so much." Roger replied and bent down to kiss her on the mouth.

"Eww!" The kids and Gwen screeched when they saw it.

"Oh shut up." Roger joked back.

Maureen looked up from where she was tickling Alex. "Mark who's that woman over there with Tony?" she asked.

Mark looked. "Gwen!" he said happily. "It's so good to see you." the two old friends hugged, and Mark turned to his wife. "Maureen this is Gwen Coverson. She's an old friend from high school, and the reason that Roger and I are friends. Gwen this is my wife and reason for living Maureen Johnson Cohen."

Maureen smirked at her husband and shook Gwen's hand. "It's nice to meet you. I was beginning to wonder if Mark and Roger had any other friends."

Gwen laughed. "It's nice to meet you too. I've seen some of your plays actually. You're really good. And I'm glad Mark _finally_ found love."

"What do you mean finally?" Mark wanted to know.

They all laughed and joked for a while longer and the kids told their parents about all that had happened since they'd left.

Finally Maureen looked at the clock. "I know some kids who have school tomorrow and need to be getting ready for bed." she said.

"We're already ready Mommy." Lea said. "We did our homework, took our baths, and got our clothes laid out for tomorrow. Uncle Roger told us to do it before you got home."

"Wow Rog." Maureen said impressed. "You're getting all responsible and stuff. I'm proud of you." she gave him a look. "Did you do what we discussed?"

"Yes Mo. I did it." he said and yawned. "Now if you don't mind I'm going to take my stuff and my wife and go home. It's been a long weekend."

"Thanks for everything Uncle Roger." Tori said. "We had fun."

"Yeah we did. And you guys have given me so much hope that when it's my turn to be a father I'll be able to handle it." Roger replied. He hugged all the kids and got ready to leave. Once he and Mimi had left, Angel, Collins, and Gwen also took their leave. Mark and Maureen went upstairs and began to unpack. After a while Mark went down the hall to check on the kids. Alex, Lea, and Tori were all asleep but there was a gentle sniffing sound coming from Tony's room.

He opened the door and found his son sitting on the bed crying . "Tony what's wrong?"

Tony looked up at his father. "It's not fair." he sobbed.

"What's not fair?" Mark asked and went to sit on the bed beside him.

"That good people like Uncle Roger, Aunt Mimi, Uncle Collins, and Aunt Angel have to be sick and dying. Why are they dying Dad?" Tony wanted to know.

Mark let out a breath. "So you found out about that did you? Roger told you, I suppose." Tony nodded. "Anthony, it's complicated. Those guys' fate is horrible, it really is. But it's all a result of bad judgment. Things like that can be prevented if you try hard enough."

"And they didn't try?"

"I wouldn't say that exactly. It's more like they were just unaware and not being careful. Did you ask Roger about how they got AIDS?" Mark wanted to know.

"No. Tori and Lea were crying and getting really upset and I didn't want to bring it up. God, it must be so hard for Gabby and Roberto if they know. Knowing that they're parents are going to die." Tony said and wiped his eyes.

"They know. They've just had time to adjust to the knowledge." Mark sighed. "I guess we should have told you a long time ago as well. Your mother wanted to, but I didn't want to worry you guys."

"Dad?" Tony asked. "Are you scared for them?"

"Am I scared that one day all my best friends will be dead? Yes, I'm terrified. That's why I don't like to talk about it. But I know that I have to accept it, just like they do. It's really hard though." Mark answered.

"Dad can we go up to Alphabet City and see your old loft?" Tony asked as Mark got ready to get up.

"I suppose we could do that. I know Roger was filling your head with stories from back then while we were gone anyway. We'll all go up one weekend soon."

"Okay. Good night Dad." Tony responded.

Mark went back to his bedroom and Maureen was sitting on the bed. "Please don't yell at me Mark." she said. "I thought it was important that they knew."

Mark smiled at his wife. "I'm not going to yell at you. As much as it pains me to admit it, you were right. The kids are better for knowing. It's making them aware that life isn't as easy as it seems."

"Oh my God, has hell frozen over? _Mark Cohen's _admitting that _I_ was right about something? Be still my heart." Maureen teased.

Mark laughed. "Well you had to get one right sometime. Everybody's entitled to do the right thing at least once."

"This makes two for me then." Maureen said slyly. "The first thing I did right was choosing you to be mine."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"So has the morning sickness gotten any easier yet?" Angel asked Mimi as they were eating at her and Roger's house. It had been almost two months since Roger's babysitting experience.

"It's still just as bad as always." Mimi replied. "Roger's being really great about it though."

"Well of course he is." Angel said. "He may not be the smartest guy out there, but he has the biggest heart. And he loves the mess out of you."

Mimi giggled and blushed. "_Si_. I know Ang. And I love him too. That's why we're having this kid."

Just then Roger let himself into the house. "Hello ladies." he said as he came in. He kissed Mimi on the lips and Angel on the cheek. "What have you two been up to today?"

"Just talking about how wonderful of a man you are Rog." Angel replied. "And speaking of, I need to get home to mine. I promised him that we would try that thing tonight."

"What thing?" Roger asked. Angel smiled and wiggled her eyebrows. "Never mind." he said and closed the door behind her when she left.

"How was work baby?" Mimi wanted to know. Mark had recently taken over a television network and Roger was in charge of all the sound equipment and musical tracks for the shows.

"It was crazy. There was this blond chick who's stalking somebody who's show is on Mark's network and she kept showing up all day."

Mimi laughed. "People are crazy these days." she said and snuggled into the couch.

"Tell me about it." Roger agreed and went to sit beside her. "I missed you today." he murmured in her ear. "I couldn't even write any songs cause all I could think about was you and how unbelievably hot you are."

Mimi shivered happily and then hit Roger in the head with a pillow from the couch. "Stop it Roger. I'm already pregnant because of your sweet talking. What more do you want?"

"Nothing else." he said. "I have all I want."

A few miles away Mark was also coming home from work. He opened the door and heard his wife singing loudly in the kitchen. "WHEN YOU WALK AWAY, YOU DON'T HEAR ME SAY PLEEEEEEASE OH BABY! DON'T GO. SIMPLE AND CLEAN AS THE WAY THAT YOU'RE MAKING ME FEEL TONIGHT! IT'S HARD TO LET IT GO!"

"Maureen, honey what in the world are you singing?" Mark asked her when she stopped.

"Just this silly song that I heard on T.V. when the kids were watching it. It got stuck in my head." Maureen explained and leaned over to kiss her husband. "How're things over at Mark Television?"

Mark smiled at her. "Things are good. We've got stalkers running around and the ratings are excellent. We'll be nationally syndicated in no time."

Maureen nodded. "Your mother called earlier. She wants to know what our plans for Thanksgiving are. In other words she wants to know if we're coming to her house."

"No." Mark said quickly. "We went over there last year and it was a disaster. This year we're just going to stay here and eat dinner with Roger, Mimi, Angel, and Collins."

"Thank God." Maureen sighed. "I was not looking forward to another year of her glaring at me because we have do many kids. That was not fun and I was this close to climbing on the table and Mooing at her until I dropped."

Mark smiled and kissed her again. "I love you, you silly thing." he said. "Are all the kids home?"

"Alex and Lea are, Tony's at Angel and Collins' house and Tori stayed after school for film club. Gabby and Robbie are spending the night here too remember." Maureen replied.

"I'll go pick all of them up and I'll get some dinner on the way home. That way you don't have to cook tonight." Mark said.

"That sounds good baby. They kissed once more and Mark went back outside to the car. But not before he heard Maureen burst into song again. "PLEEEEEASE OH BABY DON'T GO! SIMPLE AND CLEAN AS THE WAY THAT YOU'RE MAKING ME FEEL TONIGHT!" He shook his head with a smile, cranked up the car and dove to the middle school.

Victoria was standing out front talking to some other kids. When she saw her father drive up she waved at him and said goodbye to her friends. "Hey Daddy!" she said happily.

"Hello Vicky." he responded. "Did you have fun at film club?"

"Yeah we were learning about editing films. But of course I already knew how to do that, thanks to you." she answered.

Mark smiled at his daughter. "Well we've got to go get Tony from Uncle Collins' and Aunt Angel's and then we're going to get something to eat so your Mom won't have to cook tonight. Any suggestions?"

"How about Taco Bell?" she said. "I love those crunch wraps."

"And your mother and Lea love those cinnamon twists. Taco Bell it is." Mark told her. He had pulled up outside of Collins' and Angel's house. Tony was outside throwing a football with Collins and Roberto. He looked up as his father pulled into the driveway.

"Hey there Mark." Collins greeted once his friend had gotten out of the car. "Hey Tori."

"Hey man. Thanks for teaching Tony how to throw and stuff. Heaven knows I can't." Mark replied. Then he turned to his son and Roberto. "Go get your stuff and wash up guys, and tell Gabby to come on too. We're going to Taco Bell after this."

Tony threw the ball to Roberto and ran into the house. "So how's the wife?" Collins asked with a grin.

"Man when I walked into the house from work she was singing this song from one of the kids' shows at the top of her lungs. I swear if I didn't love her, I'd have to kill her." Mark answered.

Collins chuckled. "Well that's your Mo. When Angel gets home we have a couple of things of things to try. That's why we're having the kids stay with you tonight."

"Way too much information Collins." Mark said. The kids all came out dragging their bags and Tony got the kids from his dad and popped the trunk so they could load the car. "Well I'll see you later. I've got four hungry kids and a hungry singing wife at home. The quicker we get to Taco Bell the better."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Mark woke up early on Thanksgiving morning expecting to see Maureen in the bed beside him, but he was alone. He shoved his glasses on and cocked his head. The shower was going in the bathroom. A slow smile spread across his face and he went to join his wife.

Maureen was singing in the shower and was surprised when Mark pulled the sliding door open and slipped in with her. "Can I help you Cohen?" she asked with her hand on her hip.

"As a matter of fact you can." Mark replied and put his arms around her.

His wife giggled and rolled her eyes. "You act like such a horny teenager sometimes, did you know that?" her remark was cut short when Mark began to kiss her neck. Finally she sighed and gave in. "And they say I'm the one who's the sex fiend." she muttered.

A couple of hours later the couple descended to the kitchen of their house to get ready for the huge Thanksgiving dinner that was going to be at Collins' and Angel's later that evening.

"What exactly are you cooking Maureen?" Mark asked as he watched his wife take out an assortment of weird ingredients from the refrigerator.

"Macaroni and cheese." she replied.

"Why do you need a half pound of tofu to make mac and cheese?" Mark wanted to know.

"Because Collins, Angel, Gabby, and Roberto are vegetarians. Come on sweetie you're supposed to be the smart one here."

Mark walked over to his wife and put a hand on her shoulder. "You know that there's no meat in Macaroni and cheese, right? You don't have to put tofu in it to make it vegetarian."

"Look Marky. Let me worry about my dish and you handle yours, okay?" Maureen responded. Mark shrugged and walked over to the oven.

Roger and Mimi were also making their portion of the dinner. Or rather, Roger was trying to make the food and Mimi was directing from the couch. He had told her on no uncertain terms that she was not going to be on her feet all morning trying to cook when he was right there to do it for her. The fact that he couldn't cook was overlooked for the moment. Gwen had also come over because her cousin was away and no one else in her family was having dinner.

"What am I supposed to be making again?" Roger asked his wife as he squinted at the recipe she had given him.

"_Arroz con pollo, _for the thousandth time Roger." Mimi said exasperatedly. "If you would just let me do this, we could be done by now."

"You do not need to be on your feet in front of a hot oven." Roger told her. "I can handle this, foreign foods are just harder to cook that's all."

"_Nombre de Dios _Roger! It's chicken! Chicken and rice, rice with chicken. We had it at our wedding. It's not some fancy dish. You cook the chicken, you cook the rice. You add some spices and a little cream of chicken soup and you mix it all together. That's it, the end!" Mimi shouted at him.

Roger and Gwen exchanged a look. "Alright Mimi sweetie." Roger said soothingly. "You win. You can make the food and I'll clean up after, okay?" He walked out of the kitchen and handed his apron to Mimi.

"Thank you Roger." Mimi said and stood on her tiptoes to give him a kiss.

Roger shook his head and muttered something about pregnant women and mood swings. Then the phone rang and he went to answer it. "Hello?"

"Hey Roger!" Maureen said. "How's the cooking?"

"Hopefully it's good now." he replied. "Mimi's making arroz con pollo."

"Ooh sounds exotic." Maureen responded. "I just got done with my mac and cheese and Marky is cooking the dressing and potatoes."

"Wait." Roger said suddenly. "We're bringing chicken and rice. You guys are bringing mac and cheese, dressing and potatoes. That means Collins has to be making the turkey."

"Oh shit I completely blanked out on that." Maureen screeched. "I guess we'd better say goodbye to succulent, golden, roasted turkey and hello to bland gray tofurkey tonight.

"That's just wonderful." Roger groused. "Anyway let me get back. I need to make sure that Mimi is okay. We'll see you guys later tonight." He hung up and went back into the kitchen.

Collins and Angel had been up since four in the morning getting everything ready. It had been decided that the dinner would be held at their house because all the other gatherings were always at Mark and Maureen's. The kids had helped clean up the house the night before, and Angel had used her flair for designing and decorating to make the house look like a Thanksgiving wonderland.

Now Collins was standing in the kitchen up to his elbows in tofu. "Ang, could you come here for a minute?" he called out.

Angel cam skipping in. "You need some help Tommy?" she asked sweetly.

"Yeah can you taste this tofu and see if it's seasoned enough. There's nothing worse than a bland tofurkey." he told her.

She tasted it. "Tastes good to me." she replied. "But you know that our little family are the only vegetarians who'll be here tonight."

"I know that." Collins responded. "But they'll have their turkey, who could have grown up to do something important like dial 911 for an elderly woman like those animals on miracle pets, but whose life was cut short by hungry carnivores who buy into stupid holidays."

Angel patted her husband on the shoulder. "So who's bringing this murdered prodigy?" she wanted to know.

"That's a surprise." Collins said and gave her a kiss. "I'm like Santa Claus. Bringing holiday surprises to my friends."

"Tommy darling that's the wrong holiday." Angel replied with a smile and went back to setting the table in the dining room.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"Anthony Cohen, front and center!" Maureen called up the stairs. "We are leaving in five seconds with or without you!"

The five seconds passed and there was still no sign of Tony. There was however, the sound of guitar chords being played coming from his room. "Anthony put that damn guitar down and bring your ass down here!" Mark yelled. "Don't make me have to send your mother up there." None of the kids were afraid of their father disciplining them. Their mother though, was a different story. She did not hesitate to come after her kids if they acted up.

"I'm coming!" Tony called back. "Just let me finish this last part."

"Tony come on, I'm hungry and if you don't bring your scrawny butt down here I'm going to come up there and bust that guitar into a million pieces. You know I'll do it." Victoria called.

"Fine." Tony sighed and came running down the stairs. The entire Cohen family looked very nice in their Thanksgiving clothes. Tony, on the other hand, had on his favorite pair of jeans, complete with a chain hanging from the belt loops, and a black, long sleeved, button down shirt.

Mark muttered something about his son spending less time with Roger and handed Alex to Maureen so he could fish the car keys out of his pocket. Then they went outside and piled into the Cohen family minivan.

Mimi, Roger, and Gwen pulled up in front of Collins' and Angel's house about ten minutes before Mark's family even left theirs. They got out of the car and hadn't even made it up the driveway when the door opened and Angel came walking out. Roger's mouth dropped open when he saw her. Angel was dressed like the sexiest pilgrim girl Roger had ever seen. She had on a long blond wig with a pilgrim hat on her head, a short mini dress that resembled what the pilgrim girls used to wear, and knee high black stiletto boots.

Mimi caught the direction of his stare and elbowed him in the side. "You know that under all that Angel still has a penis, right?" she whispered to him.

That snapped Roger right out of his reverie and he smirked at his wife. "Hey Ang!" he said. "Happy Thanksgiving."

"Hey Roger, hey Mimi chica, hey Gwenny!" Angel greeted them happily. She stopped in the middle of the driveway and hit a spin. "How do I look?"

"Why don't you ask Roger?" Mimi suggested and moved past her husband and up the driveway.

Angel cocked her head and looked expectantly at Roger. "Well?" she asked.

"Um, you look, um, really festive." Roger answered lamely and turned bright red.

Gwen bit back a giggle and hugged Angel. Just then Roberto came to the door. "Mama, Dad said that it's too cold to be out there showing off your outfit and to give everyone a chance to come inside first." he called out.

"Alright Robby!" Angel called back. "You heard the man, ladies- and Roger. Let's go in." They trooped up the stairs and into the warm foyer of the Collins household.

Collins came out of the kitchen to greet his friends. "Hey you guys." he said giving Roger a hug and Mimi and Gwen kisses on the cheek.

"Hey Collins man." Roger replied as Angel took the girls into the kitchen so they could put the food down. "Let's eat. I know that Mark and his army of little Cohens and Maureen are here by now."

"Actually we just pulled up." Mark replied from the open doorway. "Shows how much you know Davis." Maureen and the kids came up behind him. Each one of them held a pan of food, except for Maureen, who held Alex.

"You can put all that in the kitchen." Collins told her as he scooped the boy from her arms and gave her a peck on the cheek. Maureen smiled at him, gave Roger a pat on the butt as she walked past and led her kids into the kitchen.

Mark closed his eyes and sighed. "Did my wife just pat you on the butt?" he asked.

Roger grinned. "Yep."

In the kitchen, the girls were all squealing over Angel's outfit. "Aunt Angel you look really nice." Lea told her.

Victoria whipped out her camera and started filming. "November 23, 2006 6 pm EST. Close up on our Thanksgiving party. Everyone is finally all here and Aunt Angel is modeling her newest creation. Give the folks at home a spin Aunt Angel."

Angel obliged and hit a spin for her niece. All the girls laughed as they got the food together. They were all in such a good mood that Mimi started dancing, even with her eight months pregnant stomach and Maureen burst into song. "I'M FERGILICIOUS! BUT I ANI'T PROMISCUOUS AND IF YOU IS SUSPICIOUS ALL THAT IS FICTITIOUS. I BLOW KISSES!"

"Well Maureen you haven't changed one bit have you?" said a familiar male voice from the stairs.

They all turned to see who the speaker was and Mimi and Maureen gasped as one. "Benny?" they said in disbelief.

"Hey you two. Did you miss me?" Benny asked with a wide grin.

"Uh I'm not sure." Maureen stammered. She exchanged a glance with Mimi and turned to Tony. "Honey could you go get your father and uncles please?" she requested.

Tony went to obey and Angel stepped forward. "Tommy invited him over." she explained. "He thought it would be a nice surprise."

Gwen was sensing the tension in the room so she came forward as well. "Hi, I'm Gwen." she said. "Roger, Mark, and I went to high school together and now we hang out a lot."

"It's nice to meet you." Benny replied. "If you didn't already guess, I'm Benny, Benjamin Coffin III. I'm the gang's old friend turned landlord."

Mark, Roger and Collins came into the kitchen, led by Tony. "No." Roger said firmly when he saw Benny. "No way. Wherever you came from you can just go right back."

"Now hold on Roger." Collins interrupted. "I invited him over for Thanksgiving dinner. It's been about ten years and we've all grown up. Don't you think it's time to make amends?"

"No." Roger said and folded his arms.

Mark elbowed him and stepped around his best friend. "I think Collins is right." he agreed. "We're more mature than we were back then and in completely different situations now. So why not?" He smiled at Benny and gave him a friendly hug. "It's good to see you man."

Maureen smiled too. "Well if Mark's for it then I am too. As much as I hate to admit it, I kind of missed you Coffin." She hugged him too and then brought her kids forward. "If we're doing introductions then you should meet Mark's and my kids. Collins is holding Alexander Dean, the little girl in the pink is Lea Angela, the girl with the camera who looks just like her father is Victoria Joanne, and the boy who looks like Roger every other day is Anthony Roger."

"Wow, Maureen you two have been busy haven't you? I'm happy for you both." Benny said.

Mimi smiled and stepped toward Benny as well. "She's not the only one whose been busy." she reminded him. "Roger and I are expecting sometime around Christmas."

"I can see that, you're huge Meems." He hugged her. "Congratulations you guys."

Mimi gave her husband a stern look and Gwen and Angel pushed him forward until he sighed and shook Benny's hand. "Thanks." he accepted. "I guess it is good to see you."

Benny grinned and Collins laughed. "Now that that's settled we can eat." The Bohemian turned Suburban family went into the dining room to dig into their Thanksgiving feast.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Thanksgiving passed and the Christmas holidays and Mimi's due date approached quickly. Benny was welcomed back into the group and he joined forces with Mark and Roger at their television network. Maureen got a role playing the Ghost of Christmas Present in the musical version of A Christmas Carol. She and Mark gave their old baby stuff to Roger and Mimi. Roger was becoming rapidly more protective of his wife who was due to give birth any day.

He had left Mimi under the care of Angel and Maureen and had gone to Mark's house to help him decorate. At the moment, the two friends were on the roof taking a break. "So any day now huh?" Mark remarked.

"Yeah, it looks like it." Roger replied. "God, I will be so glad when this is over. All the anxiety is killing me."

"It'll never be over Rog." Mark corrected him. "You think that Mimi being pregnant is hard? Wait until the kid gets here. Say hello to late night and early morning feedings, diaper changes, getting no sleep. Trust me, I know how it works. I've done it four times."

Roger grinned at him. "Looks like I'll be spending more time at your house then." he said. "We'd better get these lights up. Maureen said that if the house didn't look like a 'winter wonderland' by the time she got home, she was going to have our heads."

"Isn't my wife a dainty little flower?" Mark responded sarcastically. They got back to work hanging the lights as Tony, Tori, Lea, Gabriella, and Roberto piled out of the house. It was a typical winter in New York, meaning over a foot of snow and still two weeks left till Christmas.

The kids were bundled up and carrying everything they needed to make a snow man. Mark and Roger finished with the lights and went down to the yard and watched the kids. Suddenly a snowball hit Roger in the back. He whirled around and found Lea and Tony standing behind him looking falsely innocent.

"Bad move little man." he said to Tony.

"Don't look at me." the boy replied. "It was all Lea. She's got a killer arm."

Roger opened his mouth to protest this when he was hit by another snowball. This one came from Mark who made no attempt to hide his laughter. He held up more ammo. "Step away from my kids." he said.

"What is this a Cohen family ambush?" Roger asked and ducked as Tori took a turn throwing at him. "Fine then. I see war has been declared." Roger grabbed a handful of snow and the two men and all the kids spent the next hour running around throwing snow at each other.

When they finally stopped, Mark and Roger turned to see their wives looking at them with raised eyebrows from the driveway. "Just when you think they're growing up huh Maureen?" Mimi commented.

Maureen shook her head. "At least they got the lights up before they started this foolishness." Then she squealed as her husband hurled a snowball her way. "Oh that's real mature." she retorted and threw one back.

"Um pregnant lady here." Mimi reminded them. "I'd rather not have my unborn child killed by a snowball, thank you." Roger chuckled and walked over to her. He wrapped his arms around her. "You don't need to be out here in this cold." he said.

"You think?" Mimi replied and allowed Roger to lead her into the house with Mark and Maureen following them.

"Hey Mom, how about some hot chocolate?" Tori asked.

"Alright." Maureen agreed. "Just get into the house before you freeze. And leave those wet clothes by the door. That goes for you too Pookie."

"Yes Ma'am." He replied and went to take off his coat. "Do you like the lights?"

Maureen came and kissed her husband on the cheek. "They're beautiful." she murmured.

"So are you." Mark whispered back and brushed snow from her hair. They were sharing a warm kiss until the kids came into the foyer to take off their coats.

"Eww!" Tony and Lea exclaimed in unison. "Mom, Dad stop."

"Oh get over it." Maureen retorted and walked into the kitchen humming.

Mark smiled and the turned to his kids. "Scat." he shooed them. They laughed and went back into the living room where Mimi was relaxing on the couch.

"Hey Aunt Mimi, what are you going to name the baby?" Tony asked.

"We're not sure yet." Mimi replied. "It would be so much easier to decide if we knew what we were having, but Roger refuses to let the doctor tell us."

"That would be too much pressure." Roger defended himself. "Besides, I don't care if it's a boy or a girl. I just want our child to be healthy."

"That's all any of us wants Rog honey." Mimi said and patted her husband on the leg. "Well that, and for me to get my dancer's body back." She giggled as Maureen came out carrying a teapot of hot chocolate and a tray of cups.

"Mo how are those rehearsals going?" Roger asked and took a cup.

Maureen put the tray down. "They're exhausting. But that's because we open in a week." she poured herself a cup a of hot chocolate. "_Look at your life now Scrooge. Is this who you want to be? Take a look at how you affect those around you, yes take a look with me._" she sang. "Truthfully I'll be glad when it's over."

"I'll be glad too." Mark agreed. "I'm sick of hearing those songs at six in the morning."

They all laughed at that and then Mimi looked at her watch. "Roger, we need to go." she said. "The decorator will be at the house in an hour."

Roger sighed. "I don't know why you had to hire that guy anyway." he said. "We could've just had Angel decorate the baby's room for us. She would've been glad to and then I wouldn't have to empty my bank account."

Mimi rolled her eyes. "Roger stop being a baby." she ordered. "It's not like you have to do any work. Honestly, sometimes I wonder what goes on in your head."

"Not much." Maureen and Mark answered simultaneously. The couple grinned at each other and Roger scowled at them both.

"Ah friendship." he said sarcastically. "Sure wish I had some." then he sighed. "So what are we doing for Christmas this year?"

Mark and Maureen exchanged a look. "We were thinking that we all could go down to Alphabet City. The kids have been clamoring to go see where we used to live, and it would be nice, you know now that we're all friends again." Mark answered.

"Really?" Mimi asked. "I've been thinking that I we should go back there and take the kids, but I wasn't sure that you guys would go for it. I love the idea."

"Are you sure it's okay for you travel there in your condition and all?" Maureen wanted to know.

"It'll be fine. Plus wouldn't it be cool if the baby was born in the old loft or something? Or in the Life Café like Tony was? Then we could officially say that both of our first kids were born in the East Village." Mimi responded.

"Um I don't think it would be cool if our baby was born in the Life Café. That was a very scary experience for me when Maureen did it. There's no way I'm doing that again." Roger said.

Reviews make me update faster, just thought I'd mention it. REVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEW!!!!!!!


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Two weeks later, on Christmas Eve, Roger, Mimi, Mark, Maureen, Angel, Collins, Gwen, and their army of kids were packing up and getting ready to head to Alphabet City. Once again they were at the Cohen's house waiting for them to get ready.

"God, every time!" Roger exclaimed after a while. "There are just too many Cohens for Mark to keep up with. Maureen's enough of a handful, and it doesn't help that they've got four kids. They take way too long to get ready."

"This coming from the man who spent two hours in the bathroom combing his hair, only to emerge looking exactly the same." Mimi retorted flatly.

"Says the woman who took an hour to take a shower this morning." Roger said back.

"Roger darling that's because she's pregnant. It's hard for a woman to take care of herself when she's carrying another person." Angel told him.

Mimi opened her mouth to agree with this when they heard Maureen shout from upstairs, "Victoria and Mark, stop filming and get your bags downstairs or I swear to God I'll throw those cameras out the attic window!"

Five minutes later, Mark and Tony came downstairs with half a dozen bags each.

"Damn Mark, did you pack the whole house?" Collins asked good naturedly.

"Go have four fucking kids and then ask me that question again." Mark replied grumpily.

Maureen and Lea came down next, followed by Tori who was carrying her camera in one hand and her baby brother in the other. "Come on you guys, let's get this trip on the road!" Maureen shouted.

"About damn time." Roger said and they all followed him out the door. Collins had used his pull at the bus depot and had rented a full size bus that was going to carry them all up to the East Village. It took nearly another twenty minutes for them to get all loaded up, but eventually they got on the road.

Collins was driving and Gwen was bouncing in her seat. Maureen looked over at her and smiled. "Are you excited?" she asked.

"Yeah. I've always wanted to see where you all used to live, It's thrilling really." Gwen replied.

"It's really not." Mark responded dryly. "The loft's interesting at best."

"And cluttered." Angel chimed in.

"And dark." Collins said from the front.

"And cold." Roger spoke up.

"Or hot, depending on the season." Mimi finished.

"But it's home. Or it was anyway." Maureen wrapped up.

"Hey Aunt Mimi, can we go see that club that you used to dance at?" Gabriella wanted to know.

"Yeah Aunt Mimi. You can show us some moves." Victoria chimed in.

"No." Mark, Roger, and Collins all roared together.

The girls giggled at that and they all fell silent. "It'll be good to be back." Angel sighed. After a couple of hours, most of the kids were asleep and Roger and Tony were playing a duet on their guitars and Mark was filming.

As they drove into Manhattan, the gang looked out the window at their city. "No day but today." they all sang softly.

"So you want to go to the loft first?" Collins asked. "Benny said that no one lives there now."

"Let's do that. We can drop our stuff off up there and then head down to the Life." Mark said. Everyone agreed to that and Collins drove the bus over to the old building. The kids were waking up and they looked out the window.

"Holy crap!" Tori shouted. "You guys used to live here?"

"Forget that." Tony said. "I was born here."

Maureen smiled. "You'd all better be glad that we made some money and moved. Or we'd all still be living here."

They climbed off the bus and walked up the stairs to Mark and Roger's old loft. The kids were all looking around in wonder. When they got to the door, Roger slid it open almost reverentially.

Everything looked exactly the same as it did as the day Roger and Mimi moved out. Victoria whipped out her camera and started filming the room. "Close up on our parents old loft. It looks like a festering dump heap to me, but it was home to them."

"I can't believe that it's completely unchanged." Mimi breathed.

"It _is_ a little dusty." Gwen added.

"Oh please. It looked like that when Mark and Roger lived here." Collins informed her.

"Oh like you didn't have a part in it's mess. Do you know how long it takes to get the smell of weed out of the couch cushions?" Mimi fired back.

Lea pulled on her father's shirt. "Daddy what's weed? Is it like those yellow flowers that grow in the yard?"

Roger and Collins snorted a laugh and Mark flushed. "Uh not exactly Lea honey. Weed is something that adults, like your Uncle Collins, use sometimes. But it's a very bad thing. Isn't it Collins?"

"Um yeah, it is Little Lea. Don't do drugs." Collins mumbled. Roger practically fell over with laughter, until he tripped over something that was protruding from under the couch.

"Hey what's this?" he asked and tugged it out. It turned out to be a photo album, left there since before the gang had moved out. "Look at this you guys!" he said.

Mark and Mimi came over first. "Oh my God! This is from such a long time ago." Mimi exclaimed. They opened it up and saw a picture of them all outside the Life Café on the day of Maureen's Over the Moon performance.

Everybody crowded around, and when they saw the picture they all grinned at each other.

"Funny how some things don't change huh?" Mark commented.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

"December 25. 10 a.m. EST. Who would have ever thought we'd be back here again?" Mark narrated. He panned the camera around to view the various children who were camped out on the floor of the loft.

The door to Roger's old room opened and Mark swung the camera around to it. "Close up on Roger. My ex-roomie and BFF." he said playfully. "And here's his ever so lovely and oh so pregnant wife, Mrs. Mimi Marquez Davis. Merry Christmas you guys."

"Merry Christmas Marky." Mimi replied with a wave.

"Isn't it a little early for this Cohen?" Roger grumbled and ran a hand through his unruly blond hair.

"Same thing he always says." Mark responded. "Mimi tell the folks at home when you're going to finally have that kid."

"Hopefully within the week, cause I can't take it anymore." Roger answered for her.

"Thanks _Mimi_." Mark retorted and zoomed in on Collins, Angel, and Gwen coming through the door and into the loft.

"I told you Tommy love." Angel was saying. "Mark's already got the camera out."

"Close on Mrs. Angel Dumott Shunard Collins, who doesn't seem to realize the importance of documenting these things."

"Give it a rest Dad." Tony demanded from his spot on the floor.

"And the director calls cut." Mark responded and shut off the camera. "You all had better get used to this. Because I'm going to be filming all the festivities today."

"Speaking of these said festivities, when do they start?" Collins wanted to know. "I mean we're eating at the Life tonight, right? So I say we bust out the booze and live it up."

"Isn't booze bad Papa?" Roberto called out to his father.

"Sure is." Mimi replied with a grin. "Just like weed." she looked around. "Where's Mo?"

Mark sighed. "She just _had _to go see a couple of her performance artist friends." he answered.

"Ooh jealous Marky?" Gwen asked with a grin.

"No." Mark replied indignantly. "Most of them are lesbians still. Why would I be jealous?"

"Leave Mark alone." Collins admonished. "It took long enough to land Maureen for good in the first place."

"Gee thanks Col." Mark said dryly.

"Merry Christmas all." called Maureen herself as she came sailing into the loft. "It feels so good to be back here!"

"Speak of the devil." Mimi replied with a grin.

"Literally." Roger murmured and Maureen stuck her tongue out at him.

The day was passed by the gang showing the kids around the building and telling them the cleaner versions of stories about how they used to live. They decided that they would all go down to the Life Café around five for Christmas dinner and to exchange gifs.

Maureen and Mimi were doing their hair and helping Tori, Lea and Gabriella get ready as well, down in Mimi's old apartment.

"Auntie Meems, can you brush my hair?" Gabriella asked.

"Sure baby." Mimi answered. "Mo can you pass me the brush?"

Maureen tossed the brush towards her, but it missed and hit the floor. "Oops." she giggled.

"Good throw Mama." Tori said and rolled her eyes.

"Well she's very uncoordinated." Mimi joked. She turned to Victoria and Lea. "And you've got Marky the eternal klutz as a father. You chicas and your brothers are going to be _clumsy_." She bent over to pick the brush and gasped.

"Mimi you okay?" Maureen asked worriedly.

"Uh, no. I'm not." Mimi replied in a panic. "My water just broke."

"Wahoo! It's baby time!" Maureen shouted. "Vic, go get your dad and uncles and everyone else."

"_Nombre de Dios_." Mimi moaned in pain.

"Contractions?" Maureen inquired.

"No shit Maureen." Mimi exclaimed. "How the hell did you do this four times?"

"It's easy as pie after the first one." Maureen replied. Roger running in, a couple of minutes later looking frantic, with Mark, Collins, Angel, Gwen, and Tori on his heels.

"Is it time?" Roger demanded.

"No sweetie." Mimi answered, her voice dripping with pain. "It's not time. I'm just hunched over like this for my health."

It shook Roger to his core to see his wife in so much pain. Mark noticed this and decided to take charge of the situation. "Roger, go pull the bus around. Angel, Mo, and I will get Mimi downstairs." he ordered. "Gwen, Collins do you mind staying with kids?"

"Not at all." Collins replied and Gwen nodded.

It took a while to get all the kids settled and to make sure that Mimi had everything she needed. By the time Mark, Maureen, and Angel had gotten Mimi onto the bus, Roger was honking the horn nervously and Mimi's contractions were seven minutes apart.

It didn't take long to get to the hospital, but Roger wasn't driving fast enough for his wife. "For the love of God Roger!" she screamed. "I'm not having our baby on this bus. Drive faster!"

"Rog, you might want to hit the gas." Maureen called nervously.

"I'm going. I'm going." Roger replied and they made it to the hospital parking lot in record time.

The next ten minutes saw them hauling Mimi off the bus and into the hospital and her being wheeled away by the doctors. Once she was safely in their hands, Roger sagged against the wall. "Thank God." he said.

"This is so cool Roger." Maureen said from her seat. "Your kids is being born on Christmas Day." she sighed happily. "It's like something from a movie."

Mark rolled his eyes and wrapped an arm around his wife. "Just like you having Tony in the Life Café. Now that was cinematic."

A nurse came over and handed Roger some forms to fill out. He did that while Maureen went in search of food, and half an hour later the doctor came out to talk to him.

"Alright Mr. Davis. Your wife is ready to have the baby and she's asking for you." he said to him.

Roger jumped up with a grin. "Let's go." he said happily.

Author's Note: So this is the second to last chapter of this story. The last one should be up soon. It's been a great journey writing this and I hope you've all enjoyed reading it. I want to take this opportunity to issue a request. A friend of mine and I were having an argument about my writing. He said that I can't write on demand. Like if someone gives me a topic, any topic, I can't write about it. So I want to prove him wrong. I'm asking you all to send me prompts for a new story. I would greatly appreciate it.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

After a long four hours of labor from Mimi and encouragement from Roger and Angel, there was a new addition to the Davis family. He was a beautiful baby boy who was a perfect combination of both of his parents. He had soft dark blond curls and brown eyes flecked with green.

Mimi was crying openly as she gazed down at her son. Roger's eyes were glistening too as he smoothed his wife's damp hair back from her face. "You did so good baby." he whispered to her. "You brought our son into the world safe and healthy."

Angel had gone to get Maureen and Mark from the waiting room, and to call Gwen and Collins to have them and the kids come over to the hospital which wasn't far from the loft. When they all finally arrived, Roger went to create a distraction so that everyone could cram into Mimi's hospital room without the doctors seeing.

"Mimi he's beautiful." Gwen breathed when she saw the boy.

"_Si_, _Tia_ Mimi." Roberto agreed, "_Que bonito_. He looks just like you and Uncle Roger."

"_Gracias_ Robby." Mimi replied. "Where _is_ Roger?"

Mark chuckled. "He had to get rid of the doctor. It's so against all health and safety codes to have," he paused and counted. "eleven people, not even counting the mother, father, and new baby, crammed in here."

"Well when have we ever been that big on following the rules?" Maureen wanted to know.

"Was it hard Meems?" Collins inquired, indicating having a baby.

Angel shot him a look. "Tommy, what kind of question is that? She just pushed a person out of her body baby."

Maureen laughed as Mimi grimaced at her choice of words, and came to sit beside her on the bed. "Welcome to the world of motherhood my dearest. It sucks most of the time, but there are _some_ rewarding moments."

"So," Angel began. "What are you naming this little guy?"

"Noel." Roger told them as he entered the room. "We've got about five minutes before the doctors come back. So let's make this quick."

"How'd you get rid of them?" Tony wanted to know.

Roger shrugged. "Set a small fire in the cafeteria." he said simply. Then he turned to Mimi. "So we're agreed on Noel?" he asked. "For his name?"

"I like Noel." Mimi replied. "Any ideas for a middle name?"

"What about Rodolfo?" Gabriella spoke up.

"Like our abuelo?" Roberto asked.

"No. I get it!" Tori exclaimed. "It's like that guy from La Boheme. That's perfect Gab. Our parents are just like the characters from that opera."

Mark cocked his head. "They're right actually. The male lead in La Boheme was in love with a girl named Mimi and his name was Rodolfo."

"That's brilliant." Collins responded. "Mark, our kids are creative geniuses. They get it naturally of course."

"Ooh who would I be from the opera?" Maureen wanted to know.

"Muzetta, the incomprehensible flirt, of course." Collins told her. "There were no bounds to her seductive powers. She was able to keep Marcello," he nodded at Mark. "and this old guy lusting after her for a long time. And then she sold her gold earrings to buy medicine for Mimi when she got sick."

"Doesn't Mimi die at the end though?" Gwen asked.

"Yeah, but Rodolfo's love lived on." Tori informed her. "So in a way Mimi still survived."

"Rodolfo." Mimi pondered. "I like it."

"Noel Rodolfo Davis." Roger tested out. "Sounds good. Roll camera Mark."

"Yes sir!" Mark said and starting by filming the room. "December 25, 10 pm EST. We started off this day in our old loft. Now we are take up the tale from Maria Marquez Davis' hospital. Exactly one hour ago, our Mimi and Roger became parents. Say hello you two." They waved. "And now we welcome into the world, the newest member of our extended family: Noel Rodolfo Davis. Named for the day he was born and a character like his father from an opera." He panned the camera around to take in everyone. "All of us, or nearly all of us, are here. We've welcomed an old friend into the bunch, and regained trust with an old friend. In short, we've come so far from where we were on our last Christmas in Alphabet City."

Maureen came forward. "I realized that all I'd ever wanted was always right in front of me." she said. "Now we have a wonderful family." she pointed at each of her children in turn. "And I wouldn't have it any other way."

Angel went next. "I married the love of my life and we brought two wonderful niños into our lives." Collins came over and wrapped his arm around her. "And now my best chica has a little one of her own for me to spoil. Who could ask for anything more?"

"What she said." Collins agreed.

"Well I'm just happy to be here with all you guys." Gwen said to the camera. "It's wonderful to see Angel, Roger, and you Mark again. I can't really speak for how far you guys have come, but I want to go the rest of the way with you."

Roger and Mimi went last. "Mark, Maureen, Angel, and Collins. You guys are the ones who have been with us from the start." Roger said. "You were all there when Meems and I had good times and bad. And you were all there when we finally tied the knot."

"When you started your families, you invited us in. Because you knew we were a little scared to start our own." Mimi took up. "Now that we've taken _that_ plunge, you're still here, with your families and our newest friend, welcoming our son into the world. And as the years will show, we are all, in truth, one big family."

Mark smiled behind the lens of his camera. "And that's it." he said. "No day but today."

A/N: And that really is it. Let's pause here to take in that freshly ended story feeling. So Roger's a daddy now and all his _practice _paid off. Hence the name of the story. So any ideas for the next one? I'm open for all suggestions.


End file.
